Running head: Uniforms 1

Increasing effectiveness of role identification in healthcare

Vanessa Benning

Bryant & Stratton College

English 250 – Research and Writing II

Shelly Gussis

08/05/2017
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MEMORANDUM

To: Dr. Shane

From: Vanessa Benning

Date: 8/05/2017

Subject: Increasing effectiveness of role identification in healthcare

The most important piece of the healthcare pie is the patient. We are here to serve the patient,

create a relationship with the patient, and provide safety and security for the patient. It is our

sworn duty to provide the best care possible to the patients and families that we serve. Patients

evaluate whether or not they trust a healthcare professional both consciously and sub-

consciously. This serves in development of the professional-patient relationship. This is why I

am proposing that we enforce a role identifying dress code within this hospital.

It has been known that patients can have difficulty distinguishing between various tiers of

clinical staff as long as identifying markers are not present. At the Ottowa Hospital in Ontario

Canada patients were writing complaints regularly that they couldn’t tell who their floor nurses

were. They decided to enforce color coded scrub attire for medical professionals to address this

issue. Having a similar dress code in place would help our patients to distinguish their care staff

from one another, and provide a better experience overall.

Having a professional and consistant dress code raises the patients perception of the care giver.

It makes the structure look more organized, and raises the bar on cleanliness. It also will help the

staff build team spirit and pride, while decreasing confusion for the patients and family members.
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With this proposal I would like to see Doctors in white laboratory coats, nurses in blue scrubs,

and nursing assistants in burgundy scrubs.

There may be some resistance to change involved with the new implementation. This is to be

expected since change is hard. We will have to soften the blow of the change by giving a

realistic timeline for purchasing of uniforms, allowing assistance with where to purchase, and

having all policy changes in place. There will also have to be management support while

changes are taking place, and possibly some floor staff appointed as helpers of change as well. I

would like to meet and talk about this to get ideas, and figure out the route to make this happen.

This change will be hard, but is necessary for our patients. It will make them feel safe, secure,

and trusting in our abilities to serve them. It will also help with keeping cleanliness and standard

of care throughout the hospital.

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References

Importance Of Dress Code For Nurses In Hospitals. (n.d.). Retrieved August 06, 2017, from

http://www.nursinguniforms.net/blog/importance-of-dress-code-for-nurses-in-hospitals

In this article they speak of why the nursing uniforms are important, and what direction

we are going toward projecting healthcare professionalism through dress. They talk

about what is mixed in opinion, and what should remain sacred to uniform wear in

healthcare.

Hurley-Trailor, J. (2011). The office dress code Why a standard dress code needs to be

implemented. Allied Health; USA. Retrieved August 5, 2017.

This journal article talks about how patients view healthcare professionals in uniform and

without uniform. Giving statistics on what settings are good for uniforms, and what

settings it is acceptable to wear other attire. It talks mainly about outpatient treatment,

but relates in the fact that it is a healthcare professional workplace.

Madwar, S. (2011, August 09). No scrubs. No shoes. No serving. Retrieved August 5, 2017.

This article talks about a hospital based in Canada, and their transformation into a dress

code. How the patients preferred to see staff in special attire, and how the

implementation was going to be possibly met with some resistance.

Fox, J. D., Prado, G., Nole, K. L., Macquahe, F., Herskovitz, I., Rosa, A., . . . Kirsner, R. S.

(2016). Patient Preference in Dermatologist Attire in the Medical, Surgical, and Wound

Care Settings. JAMA Dermatology, 152(8), 913. doi:10.1001/jamadermatol.2016.1186

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In this article it explained all the surveys that were completed and their results. There were many

surveys done to find out if the patients preferred uniforms, or if they preferred other types of

dress by healthcare professionals (specifically dermatologists.)