Safe Nursing Clothing and Gear

As with most jobs there is a certain amount of recommended clothing and gear that you should wear once you become a nurse. The prescribed gear is for your safety and the safety of those around you to include other patients, your peers and most importantly the family at home that you are working to provide for. This clothing and gear is to protect you from diseases, blood born pathogens and bodily fluids such as urine.

            Probably the most important piece of gear for a nurse would be tennis shoes. Tennis shoes are the most important piece of gear because they will protect your feet. Tennis shoes will also provide support when you have to stand for long periods of time. One of the most important safety concerns with tennis shoes is that in a face paced environment such as an inner city hospital emergency room you have less of a risk of slipping and falling on the hospital floor.  It is never a safe bet and most to wear any kind of open toed shoes, not to mention most hospitals and clinics will have guidelines against it.

            The second most important piece of gear for a CNA, LPN or medical assistant would be gloves, because they protect your hands from exposure to bodily fluids and any kind of infection that may be present on a patient you a treating. An important thing to consider when choosing gloves is size of the glove and the material such as latex.

            Being a nurse, you should never forget about are sometimes optional pieces of gear such as a face-mask and eye protection. Nurses should don a facemask if you are treating a patient who has or displays symptoms of an infectious disease. Eye protection should ideally be worn in any type of surgery situation to protect your eyes from splatter of blood and other bodily fluids.

            A good piece of gear that will sometimes be worn is a gown or apron over your scrubs so that you don’t contaminate your uniform and transfer any diseases, blood or infections to your other patients or peers. An apron will also protect your uniform giving you a neat and clean appearance, which is great when you are pulling a twelve hour shift in the emergency room.

            Last but not least is the most important item to any nurses uniform scrubs. Scrubs should be comfortable and loose fitting so that you can most effectively conduct your duty, not to mention this will give you a professional look.