A nurse uniform is attire worn by nurses for hygiene and identification. The traditional nurse uniform consists of a dress

Dress

A dress is a garment consisting of a skirt with an attached bodice or with a matching bodice giving the effect of a one-piece garment.Dress may also refer to:*Clothing in general*Costume, fancy dress...

, apron

Apron

An apron is an outer protective garment that covers primarily the front of the body. It may be worn for hygienic reasons as well as in order to protect clothes from wear and tear. The apron is commonly part of the uniform of several work categories, including waitresses, nurses, and domestic...

 and cap. It has existed in many variants, but the basic style has remained recognizable.

History

The first nurse uniforms were derived from the nun's habit. Before the 19th century, nuns took care of sick and injured people so it was obvious that trained lay nurses might copy the nun's habit as they have adopted ranks like "Sister". One of Florence Nightingale's

Florence Nightingale

Florence Nightingale OM, RRC was a celebrated English nurse, writer and statistician. She came to prominence for her pioneering work in nursing during the Crimean War, where she tended to wounded soldiers. She was dubbed "The Lady with the Lamp" after her habit of making rounds at night...

 first students (Miss VanRensselaer) designed the original uniform for the students at Miss Nightingale's school of nursing. Before the 1940s minor changes occurred in the uniform. The clothing consisted of a mainly blue outfit. Hospitals were free to determine the style of the nurse uniform, including the nurse's cap which exists in many variants.
In Britain

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

, the national uniform (or simply "national") was designed with the advent of the National Health Service (NHS) in 1948, and the Newcastle dress. From the 1960s open necks began to appear. In the 1970s, white disposable paper caps replaced cotton ones; in the 1980s, plastic aprons displaced the traditional ones and outerwear began to disappear. From the 1990s, scrubs became popular in Britain, having first appeared in the USA; however, a majority of nurses in Britain continue to wear dresses, as in many other countries.

Standard nurse's uniform

Historically, a typical nurse uniform consisted of a dress, pinafore apron and nurse's cap

Nurse's cap

A nurse's cap or nursing cap is part of the female nurse's uniform, introduced early in the history of the profession. The cap's original purpose was to keep the nurse's hair neatly in place and present a modest appearance...

. In some hospitals, however, student nurses also wore a nursing pin

Nursing pin

A nursing pin is a type of badge, usually made of metal such as gold or silver, which is worn by nurses to identify the nursing school from which they graduated. They are traditionally presented to the newly–graduated nurses by the faculty at a pinning ceremony as a symbolic welcome into the...

, or the pinafore apron may have been replaced by a cobbler

Cobbler apron

A cobbler apron is a type of apron that covers both the front and back of the body. It is fastened with sides ties or with waist bands that tie in the back. It covers most of the upper part of the body and is frequently used in many vocational occupations....

 style apron. This type of nurse's dress continues to be worn in many countries.

Alternative nurses uniforms

Since the late 1980s, there has been a move towards alternative designs of nursing uniforms in some countries. Newer style nurse's uniform in the United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 consists of either:

1. A tunic-style top and dark blue trousers that are optimally designed to prevent cross-infection, the colour of which depends upon the grade (or, more recently, band) of the nurse—the colour varies between NHS Trusts. The tunics often feature piping around the edges of the uniform.
2. A dress in the same colour as the tunic-style top.

Male nurses wear a white tunic

Tunic

A tunic is any of several types of clothing for the body, of various lengths reaching from the shoulders to somewhere between the hips and the ankles...

 with epaulettes in the colour of their grade.

A "scrub dress" is a simpler type of uniform, and is sometimes worn in operating rooms

Operating theatre

An operating theater was a non-sterile, tiered theater or amphitheater in which students and other spectators could watch surgeons perform surgery...

. For outdoor clothing the nurse has a red jacket over the indoor Nurse uniform. If a nurse is seen outside in his or her uniform, this is a reprimandable offence and the nurse may be subjected to a review.

Traditional uniforms remain common in the Third World, but in Western Europe and North America, so-called "scrubs

Scrubs (clothing)

Scrubs are the shirts and trousers or gowns worn by nurses , surgeons, and other operating room personnel when "scrubbing in" for surgery. In the United Kingdom, they are sometimes known as Theatre Blues. They are designed to be simple with minimal places for dirt to hide, easy to launder, and...

" or tunics have become more popular.

Nurse uniforms vs scrubs

Beginning in the 1990s, and until the present time, the traditional nurse uniforms have been replaced with the "new" scrub dress in some countries. Most hospitals in the USA and Europe argue that the scrub uniform is easier to clean than the old nurse uniforms. The nurses who wear the uniforms are divided into two camps:

• Those who prefer the new scrubs; disliked the old white nurse dress uniforms.
• The nurses who liked the old white nurse dress uniforms; they argue that nurses who wear scrubs are seen by the patients as cleaners or surgeons and cannot be identified as nurses.

In many parts of the world, nurses continue to wear a white uniform consisting of a dress and cap.
The traditional white uniform for male nursing staff is now going out of fashion, excepting for student nurses.
A tunic of either the dental surgeon style or a v neck with a collar is very often used.
The colours vary with grade, area of work, and hospital; however, the male equivalent of sister (that is, charge nurse) tend to be shades of blue or dark green: often, this is the only colour to be recognised by the public as signifying a person in authority.