The only ones wearing a long white coat should be doctors (& MAYBE pharmacists)

[fab4fan]

I couldn't agree more:

BINGO! Maybe you could get some 3rd year MS to hold your train as you walk on the different units. You need a scepter, too,just to round out the uniform.

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Members don't see this ad.

 

[maxxor]

You need a scepter, too,just to round out the uniform.

 

[Kahreek]

there are places where everyone wears long coats, from medical students to lab workers.
There are no distinctions between long and short.

 

[fab4fan]

No, you need something fancier. Maybe an orb, too.

 

[DermViser]

No, you need something fancier. Maybe an orb, too.

 

[fab4fan]

That's more like it!

 

[orangeman25]

Lab coats are there to protect you from bodily fluids or other disgusting things that could land on you. Who cares who in the medical/science profession wears them? Heck, everyone should.

 

[VenusinFurs]

Funny story:

Last two membranes I ruptured I TOTALLY managed to get some blood/ fluid on my forearm. SUPER GREAT

 

[Confused200]

Maybe I've over-idealized it, but I really thought that it was absurd that even in medical school you receive your white coat immediately after orientation. It's definitely no longer a mark of high achievement or advanced training.

The fact that ARNP's have been known to self-describe themselves as "doctor nurses" or thereabouts is a whole different discussion...

The white coat to me does not represent much of the person behind it. I believe the white coat represent higher levels of competency.

 

[Psai]

I just found out that nurses wearing scrubs wasn't a thing until around the 1990s. Before that, it was mostly the white uniform with the cap. Nowadays, you see nurses on public transportation in scrubs all over the place. I thought that mimicking a doctor's look was a more modern phenomenon.

 

[futuremdforme]

No one should wear a white coat. Like someone before me said, they're germ havens.

http://www.idse.net/ViewArticle.aspx?d_id=248&a_id=8699

 

[neusu]

White coats and ties spread disease. This might not be an issue for too much longer when patient welfare begins to overcome the need for a traditional doctor appearance.

On a funny side note, when my dad was recovering from bypass surgery in a CICU, I would see this curious guy with a long white coat, but underneath white scrubs, and wearing white shoes. He didn't really look professional, and actually the all white outfit looked silly to me. I didn't know what to make of him, until I began to talk to him, and found out he was a nursing student from a local university. The best part of all of it is I saw others like him in long white coats, all men, while their female counterparts from the same school only had the white scrubs.

In my experience, attending surgeons at some more traditional surgery programs, would wear white scrubs in the OR. They looked like an ice-cream man in that get-up.

 

[cbrons]

Only med students wear short white coats where Im from. All the NP students wear long white coats.

 

[Promethean]

Where did you find this thread @Psai ? now that you've necrobumped it, we'll have people who drop in to say all the same stuff that was already hashed out on the first page. Reminds me I need to check in on the necrobumping thread and make sure it is not dying....

 

[mikil100]

This is an interesting question. I have no citations, as this is not an academic discussion. It seems that, beyond whatever they symbolized at their inception (probably worn originally for laboratory safety), white lab coats are now a sign of expertise/specialization/provider role/advanced education/laboratory employment (pick any or all interpretations).

I think that those who work for the laboratory, MDs, medical students, other providers, and pharmacists should don white coats, if they wish. If I could, I would exclude ARNPs and PAs because they are not as close to being a true scientist as the MDs and pharmacists are and they do not work in an actual lab, but because of the strong association the public has with their providers wearing lab coats, it is appropriate. I don't understand why nurse managers*, infection preventionists, WOCNs, educators, and the like wear white coats. It's not that it should be banned, but it just doesn't make much sense. Our phlebotomists wear white scrub jackets or white coats, but they are easily distinguishable from the well-made, collared, embroidered, long white coats that the providers and specialists wear.

As an aside: I was one of the awkward nursing students described above who had to wear the appalling stark white uniform with a long white lab coat emblazoned on the shoulder with my college of nursing logo. I hated it with every sinew in my body. I was mistaken for an MD once, too, which is hilarious because I was a teenager and yet still mistaken for a doctor. It is inappropriate for nursing students to wear lab coats that make them look like people with expertise and/or graduate education, but I am a bit of traditionalist. As a student, I wished I could just wear a cardigan or scrub jacket, or anything that didn't make me look like such a noob.

RNs wear scrub jackets that are the color of their uniform. Staff at my institution are color-coded by uniform, which makes identification much simpler. It is a relief for people to instantly know who I am when I walk in the door.

*To respond to other posts in this thread, I have never heard of a charge nurse with a white coat: at my institution, the charge nurse for the day is a clinician or an experienced staff RN.

I hated my nursing school uniform.

I really do understand the confusion with others wearing white coats, but I see plenty of NP's, and PA's using white coats because of all the stuff they have to carry around with them. It's silly to restrict that just because they " haven't earned it" or to prevent confusion. The confusion is easily remedied with "oh, I'm not the doctor, but I'm the [nurse, PA, NP, tech, whatever]." As I male I regularly have to explain I am not the doctor. And I wear the same free scrubs at our hospital as the aids do, haha.

Also, I am a charge nurse, never heard of the white coat thing, I think I would be ridiculed if I wore one. haha.

 

[HoboCommander]

It's so confusing. Only DOCTORS should be allowed to wear long white coats.

 

[Promethean]

It's so confusing. Only DOCTORS should be allowed to wear long white coats.

Oh, FFS. Doctors stole the style from scientists.

Doctors who want to wear something that will distinguish them as physicians and not something else should go for something more historically unique to physicians. Something like:

Betcha NPs and students won't be in a rush to usurp that style!

 

[Psai]

I hated my nursing school uniform.

I really do understand the confusion with others wearing white coats, but I see plenty of NP's, and PA's using white coats because of all the stuff they have to carry around with them. It's silly to restrict that just because they " haven't earned it" or to prevent confusion. The confusion is easily remedied with "oh, I'm not the doctor, but I'm the [nurse, PA, NP, tech, whatever]." As I male I regularly have to explain I am not the doctor. And I wear the same free scrubs at our hospital as the aids do, haha.

Also, I am a charge nurse, never heard of the white coat thing, I think I would be ridiculed if I wore one. haha.

Short coats have just as many pockets. It's not just mid levels wearing coats. I see nutritional school students walking around in white coats. Wtf do they have that they need to carry around? And nursing schools are now having white coat ceremonies and issuing long coats to their students as if it was a symbol of nursing. They also have nursing school instructors prancing around in long white coats on campus

Let's be real, the reason why everyone wears it is because they all want to look like a real doctor. And no, the confusion is not easily remedied by saying who you are. There are nps that introduce themselves as doctor whoever to patients. Disingenuous and fraudulent

 

[NaOH]

Betcha NPs and students won't be in a rush to usurp that style!

Whatever, I'd wear the hell out of a plague doctor outfit.

 

[Wilf]

Let's be real, the reason why everyone wears it is because they all want to look like a real doctor. And no, the confusion is not easily remedied by saying who you are. There are nps that introduce themselves as doctor whoever to patients. Disingenuous and fraudulent

I was out eating the other night and some as*hole walked in wearing scrubs and walking with a swagger and as he approached I saw his embroidered scrubs said Dr. First Last, DNP FNP. It's still surprising to me that these people can be happy with themselves when they are nothing but pathetic frauds.

 

[Promethean]

Whatever, I'd wear the hell out of a plague doctor outfit.

Yeah. Me, too, actually. That's why I'm trying to bring it back in style.

 

[Mad Jack]

Oh, FFS. Doctors stole the style from scientists.

Doctors who want to wear something that will distinguish them as physicians and not something else should go for something more historically unique to physicians. Something like:

Betcha NPs and students won't be in a rush to usurp that style!

I've been advocating for us to bring back the black coat for years.

 

[HoboCommander]

I was out eating the other night and some as*hole walked in wearing scrubs and walking with a swagger and as he approached I saw his embroidered scrubs said Dr. First Last, DNP FNP. It's still surprising to me that these people can be happy with themselves when they are nothing but pathetic frauds.

I agree. They are total frauds. How can they be happy with themselves? I hate working with these people. Fortunately I've only come across a couple such nurses who address themselves as "doctor" (PhD in philosophy), but many nurses still act like wannabe doctors. The actual attending physicians, whose look they try to emulate, are much more humble in comparison.

 

[Psai]

I was out eating the other night and some as*hole walked in wearing scrubs and walking with a swagger and as he approached I saw his embroidered scrubs said Dr. First Last, DNP FNP. It's still surprising to me that these people can be happy with themselves when they are nothing but pathetic frauds.

It's so bizarre when they want letters so bad that they repeat them for some reason

 

[mikil100]

Short coats have just as many pockets. It's not just mid levels wearing coats. I see nutritional school students walking around in white coats. Wtf do they have that they need to carry around? And nursing schools are now having white coat ceremonies and issuing long coats to their students as if it was a symbol of nursing. They also have nursing school instructors prancing around in long white coats on campus

Let's be real, the reason why everyone wears it is because they all want to look like a real doctor. And no, the confusion is not easily remedied by saying who you are. There are nps that introduce themselves as doctor whoever to patients. Disingenuous and fraudulent

Oh yeah, long coats aren't necessary. A short coat is more practical and works just as fine

 

[WingedOx]

I was out eating the other night and some as*hole walked in wearing scrubs and walking with a swagger and as he approached I saw his embroidered scrubs said Dr. First Last, DNP FNP. It's still surprising to me that these people can be happy with themselves when they are nothing but pathetic frauds.

I'm sure your disgust leaves him crying himself to sleep every night...

You actually took the time during dinner to look at other people eating, you thought that someone wearing scrubs was something that was worth your attention for whatever reason, and you were peeking over at his title because you were looking for something to be annoyed about.

...dude, he's not the one with the problem. Just eat your burger.

 

[Dr.Sticks]

I've seen PAs, NPs, Phlebotomy people, and Docs wear lab coats..
However you always knew who was who because they stressed it clearly. I also never seen a doctor wear scrubs well I did, but specifically only the surgeons. The ones who didn't do surgery, or were in outpatient wore either khakis, or black pants with a dress shirt and tie..(skirt/blouse for women)

Also to be honest in an out patient setting the NP, M.D/D.O, and PA all pretty much did the same thing.. It wasn't a big deal that there wasn't an M.D/D.O doing the check up.. Ordering labs, taking patient history, prescribing basic meds, etc..(the attendings were busy inpatient/doing research) The NP and PA were supervised by an attending anyways so...

*Observed from shadowing*

*on a side note* How did I end up here? swear to god I click this link somewhere else lol

 

[Rajayray2019]

These days it doesn't matter since the badges have your job in 3 inch letters.

Go right ahead and wear your long coat, nurse, it still says "RN" in bold type right under your badge.

Until they flip the badge around whilst approaching a patient.

 

[Rajayray2019]

Or maybe it's because they earned a DOCTOR of pharmacy.

In the healthcare field the word "Doctor" implies physician. While healthcare professionals understand the difference, patients often don't. A pharmacist referring to themselves as Doctor is confusing. I don't for one second think that physicians know as much about drugs as pharmacists do, and there is no way in hell I would want that job. However, perception is reality. You call yourself doctor, people assume you're a physician. Which is a great thing...right up until something happens in front of you and everyone is waiting for you, the doctor, to do something other than call for a physician.

 

[NaOH]

Pharmacists going by 'doctor' in anything other than an academic setting are dooshes IMO. Sure, I have a doctorate, and I'm proud of that fact, but there are tons of BSPharms with decades of experience who would make me look like a drooling idiot.

As for white coats, my current employer discourages them for all staff (pediatric hospital). Whatevs, scrub pants and a t-shirt are good enough for me.

 

[W19]

I am ok with anyone wearing the white coat as long as they are trained how to avoid the courtroom first.

 

[AlteredScale]

Only med students wear short white coats where Im from. All the NP students wear long white coats.

Yeah, wth is up with that? Every single NP or MSN program in San Diego has a white coat ceremony providing a long white coat to STUDENTS. I don't understand that.

 

[W19]

Yeah, wth is up with that? Every single NP or MSN program in San Diego has a white coat ceremony providing a long white coat to STUDENTS. I don't understand that.

Because they are going to be DOKTA...

 

[Psai]

Yeah, wth is up with that? Every single NP or MSN program in San Diego has a white coat ceremony providing a long white coat to STUDENTS. I don't understand that.

Very obvious. They are trying to obtain the perceived prestige and respect that the coat garners. But people respect it because it's a symbol of medicine and they don't care that they are debsing it. These are nurses that are indoctrinated into believing that they are just as good if not better (or have they dropped the first part yet) than doctors

 

[NPstudentNOTadr]

I want to address several of these comments and hopefully clear up a few things. I'm a nurse and an NP student and have worked in a hospital setting for 8 years.
1. It is acceptable for nurses to wear white SCRUB JACKETS. Short, no collar.
Lab Techs- the ones who actually work in the lab in micro, etc- not phlebotomists- can wear long white coats, but typically wear long, disposable, blue jackets.
Nursing students are often required to wear short white collared coats, but I am seeing this transition to scrub jackets.
NP students AND NPs should wear short collared white coats-even if they have a doctorate.
Physicians are the ONLY ones who should be wearing long white coats in patient care settings.
Also, the nurse practitioners that I know are not on a power trip and are respectful to doctors. If I decide to obtain a DNP or PhD it is NOT because I am trying to look like a doctor, it's because I am given so many of the responsibilities and privileges that a doctor has that I feel that I should have as much education as possible for my field. You all should appreciate that we feel that way.
The disrespect voiced for nurses and NPs in this thread is disgusting. Nurses are expected to take care of your patients while you aren't present. They are so much more than med-passers. We are the first to notice when your patient is headed south. Thank God the doctors I work with love and trust nurses and thank them for the difficult job they do.
Please don't be "that doctor" who has no appreciation for nurses. Please thank a nurse when she/he saves your patient's life by making good decisions and having good assessment skills. Please listen to the nurse when she tells you her patient has had a change and she is concerned. Please don't scream at her when she calls you in the middle of the night bc she is trying to do her best to take care of your patient. Please don't get angry if she questions an order you write bc she has been caring for the patient 12 hrs a day for the last 4 days and may know something that you missed.
These comments are so disheartening. I hope I never work with any of you who have such an obvious disregard for anyone who doesn't have MD/DO after their name.

 

[wanderingorion]

http://gomerblog.com/2017/03/white-coats/

 

[ewax]

I want to address several of these comments and hopefully clear up a few things. I'm a nurse and an NP student and have worked in a hospital setting for 8 years.
1. It is acceptable for nurses to wear white SCRUB JACKETS. Short, no collar.
Lab Techs- the ones who actually work in the lab in micro, etc- not phlebotomists- can wear long white coats, but typically wear long, disposable, blue jackets.
Nursing students are often required to wear short white collared coats, but I am seeing this transition to scrub jackets.
NP students AND NPs should wear short collared white coats-even if they have a doctorate.
Physicians are the ONLY ones who should be wearing long white coats in patient care settings.
Also, the nurse practitioners that I know are not on a power trip and are respectful to doctors. If I decide to obtain a DNP or PhD it is NOT because I am trying to look like a doctor, it's because I am given so many of the responsibilities and privileges that a doctor has that I feel that I should have as much education as possible for my field. You all should appreciate that we feel that way.
The disrespect voiced for nurses and NPs in this thread is disgusting. Nurses are expected to take care of your patients while you aren't present. They are so much more than med-passers. We are the first to notice when your patient is headed south. Thank God the doctors I work with love and trust nurses and thank them for the difficult job they do.
Please don't be "that doctor" who has no appreciation for nurses. Please thank a nurse when she/he saves your patient's life by making good decisions and having good assessment skills. Please listen to the nurse when she tells you her patient has had a change and she is concerned. Please don't scream at her when she calls you in the middle of the night bc she is trying to do her best to take care of your patient. Please don't get angry if she questions an order you write bc she has been caring for the patient 12 hrs a day for the last 4 days and may know something that you missed.
These comments are so disheartening. I hope I never work with any of you who have such an obvious disregard for anyone who doesn't have MD/DO after their name.

quality necrobump

 

[Spectre of Ockham]

http://gomerblog.com/2017/03/white-coats/

Came here just to post that. Gomerblog nails it so hard it goes all the way to China.

 

[wanderingorion]

Came here just to post that. Gomerblog nails it so hard it goes all the way to China.

Haha, as soon as I read the title I thought, "I know right where you belong."

 

[akuko2]

I'm still pushing for us medstudents to wear these bad boys:

 

[ZhivagoMD]

Back when I was getting my paramedic, we did clinical rotations in the ED and numerous other departments to practice IV starts, tubes, and other skills. We all were given a white lab coat with the hospital's logo (they were the program sponsor) and were required to dress professionally. I can't explain the looks I got wearing a shirt and tie, with a lab coat, and then explaining I was a "paramedic student."

 

[Psai]

Back when I was getting my paramedic, we did clinical rotations in the ED and numerous other departments to practice IV starts, tubes, and other skills. We all were given a white lab coat with the hospital's logo (they were the program sponsor) and were required to dress professionally. I can't explain the looks I got wearing a shirt and tie, with a lab coat, and then explaining I was a "paramedic student."

Don't worry bro, even secretaries and administrators wear white coats. I've even seen nurse administrators wear scrubs (same color as doctor scrubs) and white coat. No points for guessing what they're trying to do.

 

[ProfMD]

Who cares?

 

[CharlieBillings]

At the places I've worked/volunteered at everyone simply had a large plastic solid color card that says your title. Bright red "PHYSICIAN" or blue "RN" for example. Never saw any confusion except for people making crummy jokes like "Wait, your a woman and dark skinned?! And a Doctor?! Wooow!" -Wide Eyes-

 

[BurghStudent]

I've never really cared about attire.

You can always tell who the doctor is though. Look for furrowed eyebrows, conjunctival hyperemia where the twinkle of their former pre-med self used to reside, and a purposefulness of gait.

 

[Reveler]

Once upon a time, I worked at a VA in the south and the only person wearing a white coat was the optometrist. She was a young, attractive black woman fresh out of school. She said it was the only way to get a modicum of respect from the mostly white, all-male patient population.

 

[Angel11]

DNPs should have their names and titles written on their ID badges in comic sans to emphasize how much of a joke doctorate it is

Please elaborate as to why you feel a doctorate in nursing practice a "joke". Thanks in advanced and I'm very interested to read your reply.

 

[Angel11]

.

 

[psychMDhopefully]

Please elaborate as to why you feel a doctorate in nursing practice a "joke". Thanks in advanced and I'm very interested to read your reply.

Answer this question, why does DNP exist in the first place? So that NPs can call themselves doctor, that is shameful in and of itself. The DNP curriculum is a joke that pales in comparison to the MD curriculum when it comes to academic rigor. If you took a nursing school class and put them all in med school, maybe 2%-4% would get past first year.

 

[psychMDhopefully]

I want to address several of these comments and hopefully clear up a few things. I'm a nurse and an NP student and have worked in a hospital setting for 8 years.
1. It is acceptable for nurses to wear white SCRUB JACKETS. Short, no collar.
Lab Techs- the ones who actually work in the lab in micro, etc- not phlebotomists- can wear long white coats, but typically wear long, disposable, blue jackets.
Nursing students are often required to wear short white collared coats, but I am seeing this transition to scrub jackets.
NP students AND NPs should wear short collared white coats-even if they have a doctorate.
Physicians are the ONLY ones who should be wearing long white coats in patient care settings.
Also, the nurse practitioners that I know are not on a power trip and are respectful to doctors. If I decide to obtain a DNP or PhD it is NOT because I am trying to look like a doctor, it's because I am given so many of the responsibilities and privileges that a doctor has that I feel that I should have as much education as possible for my field. You all should appreciate that we feel that way.
The disrespect voiced for nurses and NPs in this thread is disgusting. Nurses are expected to take care of your patients while you aren't present. They are so much more than med-passers. We are the first to notice when your patient is headed south. Thank God the doctors I work with love and trust nurses and thank them for the difficult job they do.
Please don't be "that doctor" who has no appreciation for nurses. Please thank a nurse when she/he saves your patient's life by making good decisions and having good assessment skills. Please listen to the nurse when she tells you her patient has had a change and she is concerned. Please don't scream at her when she calls you in the middle of the night bc she is trying to do her best to take care of your patient. Please don't get angry if she questions an order you write bc she has been caring for the patient 12 hrs a day for the last 4 days and may know something that you missed.
These comments are so disheartening. I hope I never work with any of you who have such an obvious disregard for anyone who doesn't have MD/DO after their name.

Most doctors listen to nurses, good nurse are respected, but nurses seem to want their butts kissed constantly just for doing their jobs. That 70-80k for a bachelors degree should be reward enough.