I see absolutely no problem with our current uniforms. They are color-coded, with each department (RNs, RTs, techs, transporters, etc) having their own designated color, and they in no way prohibit Anonymous Health from succeeding as a business. I have yet, in my three years of working here, to ever hear a patient, family member, or coworker complain about the color of our scrubs. In fact, I find comfort in the fact that I know exactly which department someone works for by glancing at their scrubs. Now, Anonymous Health wants to disrupt this harmony and force a godawful, stop-sign red uniform onto its nurses. Why? They state this "image enhancement" will "further deliver on Anonymous Health's promise of assurance to patient's and families." What the what?! How does having red scrubs with little Anonymous Health emblems on every piece of my clothing assure anyone of anything? All it says to me is here's another advertising opportunity for Anonymous and another way for them to make money. By instating this new uniform, Anonymous Health is literally stealing money out of the pockets of its nurses.
Since nurses will only be allowed to wear obnoxious red scrubs that project the Anonymous logo on both top and bottom, they will ONLY be able to buy their scrubs from Anonymous Health. This " uniform trap" then ensures that the hard-earned money of each and every Anonymous Health nurse will go directly back into the bank account of Anonymous Health. Kind of shady, don't you think? Not to mention the fact that even though Anonymous Health states, "these changes are driven by nurse and patient feedback gathered during formal research over the last 18 months," I never recall being asked my opinion on the matter. Plus, who are these nurses that stated they wanted to wear bright red with an Anonymous Health logo on every part of their body? I am hard pressed to find even ONE nurse who is "ok" with this change. And who are the patients that said, "you know what, I think I would have received better care if the nurses were in red scrubs." Absolutely ridiculous. Let's face it, this is all just a money-making ploy that benefits NO ONE but the "higher ups" who will never have to wear this ridiculous new garb.
Back to the financial aspect, scrubs are expensive. It has cost me well over $150 for my current collection of lovely royal blue and white scrubs. Is Anonymous Health going to pay ME $150 to buy all new scrubs? HAHAHAHAH. F no. They are only offering nurses 15% off of their purchases. IT'S ALL FOR PROFIT PEOPLE. They don't care about the opinions and job satisfaction of their nurses and other hardworking staff. They just want to make as much money as possible, even if it pisses off and bankrupts their dedicated employees. What a twisted way of running a business...
Aside from my strong hatred for this change, let's look at the logistics of it all. The "cutest" pair of scrubs offered don't even have pockets. NO POCKETS?! How in the world can you be a productive nurse without pockets. Clearly, the people who chose these uniform options do NOT have to work at the bedside and have probably never been a floor nurse. Also, let's look at the psychology behind the color red. According to precisionintermedia.com, "people surrounded by red find their heart beating faster and often report feeling a bit out of breath." Fabulous. Thank you Anonymous Health for encouraging respiratory distress and SVT. Also, "red can be perceived as demanding and aggressive", according to colour-affects.co.uk. Wonderful. I am really looking forward to looking like an aggressive bitch while my patient struggles to breathe. Can't wait! On a smaller note, apparently wearing red also makes you appear fatter. I fail to see any benefit from this new uniform.
What is so wrong with our blue scrubs anyway? Precisionintermedia.com notes that "seeing the color blue actually causes the body to produce chemicals that are calming." They also state that "blue has become associated with steadfastness, dependability, wisdom and loyalty (note how many uniforms are blue)." Maybe it's just me, but I would MUCH rather be a dependable, wise, blue-scrubbed nurse with calm patients than a demanding red-scrubbed nurse battling to keep her patients from being chronically tachycardic.
There is an old saying that goes, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it." There was nothing wrong with having all of your nurses happy in their already-paid-off blue scrubs. Your whole "branding" scheme is nothing more than a crappy ploy for profit and I am not amused.
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| No pockets. Which genius decided this was a good idea? |
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| Note: Unibrow right pocket. Very fashionable right now... also makes me feel as though I work for Applebee's.. |
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| Current Uniform: calming, functional, and it doesn't burn your eyes if you stare too long.. |
I complete agree with you Dani. It's unfortunate. Munson has gone a similar direction, although no logo. We recieved three sets of scrubs and pay full price for the rest. I think the new ones your hospital is offering are terrible, where as the old ones are super classy. Stick with it, someone might listen. - Stacy
ReplyDeleteThat's for the support.. Pretty sure no one is listening and I am probably at risk for being fired for posting this.. hence all of the changes I had to make to the original post.. Hope you're doing well!! =)
ReplyDeleteI agree with you so much it hurts. I work in psych at an "anonymous" health hospital in a certain college town. Where I am, techs, nurses, and many groups where the same uniform colors of scrubs. They are very liberal about the types and colors we can wear. I don't know anyone who completely disagrees with the idea of having uniforms or distinguishers between say, a tech and nurse via the color of scrubs. However, the color choices are WRONG and do not in any way promote a HEALING environment. I work in a psychiatric unit. People there already can be delusional and associate hospital workers with "evil experimenters" and are paranoid, hallucinating, or even just plain old depressed. If there is one color that should never, ever be a theme on a psych ward, it's red. Red AND black is like a double whammy. Red is the color of blood, aggression, and fire while black is the color of sickness, death, and darkness. These are two VERY negative colors to put on a uniform. I have already witnessed people detoxing from EtoH (and schizophrenics as well) who have delusions that there's been mass murders and people are dying and bloody and we are covering it up, think of how a red and black uniform ties into that....and it's a scary thought. It's too stimulating. ALSO, I am not yet an RN (getting my BSN now) and work as a tech...the tech uniforms are GREEN. An ugly, military-esque green that honestly reminds me of meconium. What's worse---although a different shade of green--psych patients wear green scrubs. There are so many problems with the "research" that seems to "prove" patients like to be able to distinguish based on uniform. I'm sure many do...but I doubt any of them would like the color choices of red and black. I chuckled at your statements about SVT because I couldn't agree more. It's a ploy to make money and exploit staff and does NOTHING to contribute to patient care. Everyone on my unit has repeated the same things you have about the problems with patient care and the idea that none of the people who are making these decisions have worked on the floor. Marketing and monopolization--When did those become so much more important than employee satisfaction and patient care?
ReplyDeleteVery useful information,It is a good guide for me.I really appreciate your post and you explain each and every point very well.
ReplyDeleteIn home care
Thanks to everyone for reading and replying.
ReplyDeleteCarna Health, I am glad that I could help be a guide, even though my post had a bit of an angry tone to it. (I was rather annoyed with my hospital at the time it was written.) Since this post, I have moved on to travel nursing, so I was not around when the new uniform was put into place.
Nurses are fabulous at adapting to change and most of the nurses I used to work with said that they are now "ok" with the new scrubs. They have also stated that they are disappointed with the quality of the scrubs chosen by the hospital and wish that they would have been able to purchase their own brands.
After study a few of the blog posts on your website now, and I truly like your way of blogging about Scrubs Inc.
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