I was going to say, I don't think it matters as long as they look clean and neat. I do like for the non licensed to wear different colors than licensed, just so people know the difference and the patients know who is who.

 This is a subject that has been on my mind since I first started clinicals in nursing school.  I graduated about a year and a half ago and it still bothers me.  When I first started nursing clinicals, I found it difficult (unless the person was facing me and their badge wasn't turned around as they always do) to distinguish between support staff, nurses, technicians and housekeeping since I not yet knew anyone on the staff.  I cant imagine how confusing it is for the patients.  When I mentioned this to the nurse educator during my first job orientation, she said that I could submit the idea to the powers that be but that I wouldn't have many friends at work.  I feel sorry for the patients who aren't "frequent flyers"...they're sick, vulnerable, don't know who's job it is to do what (nurses vs. support staff, support staff vs. housekeeping, etc.) and when they're in need of something, they ask anyone they see in scrubs.  now you can be sure that, if it's not their job, no one who is supposed to be busy has time to run around looking for the person who's job it is to give them the messasge...and if they do, it's a huge strain on time management.  IMO, patients should not have to do their best to distinguish every shift, every day and night who their doctor is vs. their nurse, tech, support staff or housekeeping personnel.  When youre sick and medicated, sometimes its hard to know which day it is!  nurses should wear one color (who cares about the style as long is it's professional), doctors should wear another, support another, etc.  just my opinion.  btw, i have no problem with nurses wearing teddy bears or bandaids on their uniforms (IN A PEDIATRIC UNIT) as long as they're the only ones wearing the prints!   

If the employer wants to provide them, or pay for them, then they can choose the color and the style.  Until that happens, leave uniform choices up to the individual.  We are the ones who have to pay for them and maintain them.  It is one of the few areas where a person can exert some individuality.

I strongly agree that certain positions / ranks in healthcare facilities should have a uniform at least identifying who they are. I can't tell you how many times I've seen someone walk into a pt room, dressed in scrubs & the pt thought that person was the nurse/tech/doctor etc. Come to find out they were actually housekeeping or dietary! How mortifying is that? Here you are laid up on a table asking the person who enters the room if your procedure is going to take long or if it's going to be painful, and it's a custodian you're speaking to! In the United Kingdom, many nurses still wear their caps, dresses, and are called sister. Only the surgeon wears scrubs, it's considered sloppy & unprofessional to many practices not to be in a uniform.

dedicated_to_nursing says ...

 these days there are many styles of scrubs in every color in the rainbow (although there's still room for better, professional styles, IMO)  anyway, all im suggesting is that nurses wear perhaps blue (dark or light, pick one), surgeons wear green, physicians can wear whatever they want as long as they wear a long white lab coat over it, techs wear, perhaps grey and housekeeping, perhaps brown or dark green, etc.  that way, patients will be less confused.  if they ask a support staff member (who is in beige or something) when they need something, that person could say, listen, here's a tip, all the nurses wear light blue.  i will tell a nurse as soon as i can but if you see one before i do, she/he's the one to ask.  it seems that would be something the patient would "get" and unless they have altered mental status, would probably remember.  all this "self expression" through work attire does nothing to reassure or assist the patients at a time where theyre feeling scared, sick, weak, possibly medicated and confused and vulnerable.  i always introduce myself to my patients but with so many other staff members going in and out of patient rooms, i may only have to remember 6 or 8 patients names while knowing what room their in, the patients have to differentiate between anywhere from 4 to 24 staff members on their floor per shift and they all of their uniforms look alike!  theyre consistently inconsistent!!!  i actually think the uniform color requirements  should be a national language within hospitals.  like i said, my first week of clinicals in nursing school, i couldnt tell the support staff from the nurses, from the doctors, from housekeeping, from the techs...it was embarrassing to make a mistake (cuz someone wasnt wearing their badge or it was turned around the wrong way) and only succeeded in pointing me out as new, new, new and made me look and feel foolish.  what's even worse is the way our shifts happen.  so tonite the pt. has on nurse (until she goes on break and then there's a different one), then the day nurse, but here's the worst part, since we only work 3 shifts, that patient may not see his original nurse for 3 more days!...what must that seem like for the patients?  after all, we are supposed to advocate for them first, not necessarily advocate for ourselves and our personal style which has no benefit to our patients.  maybe its just me...i just dont want to have to wear white but if the uniform rule were to go into effect, i'd rather wear white that have everybody wearing anything.  am i nuts?   P.S.  arent our uniforms tax deductible?

this is how my job is but nurses wear whites. i may not love white but it is easier for pts to differ between staff

White uniforms are NOT practical. Easy to get something on them before you even get to work.

At work.... we all know what kind of bodily fluids we are exposed to. Give us one break at least, let me pick my colors.

Yes, you shared my sentiments, exactly! I just would like for the patients to be able to know the difference between nurses, nursing assistance, lab, respiratory therapy, physical therapy, etc.