Chapter 4 Nonverbal Communication 109❶ Do you think that
nurses’ uniforms became
less gendered as more
men entered this tradition-
ally female profession, or
do you think men began to
think more seriously about
the field as the old frilly
uniforms gave way to more
androgynous scrubs?
❷ Why do you think the
color of nurses’ uniforms
had such an impact on
adults’ perceptions? Why
might it have had less of
an impact on younger pa-
tients? Do you think that
those younger patients’
perceptions will change as
they age?
➌ Consider the traditional
nurse’s uniform in a few
different contexts. How is it
that a uniform that indicated
professional prestige 100
or even 50 years ago now
seems so blatantly sexist?
➍ The traditional nurse’s
uniform sent a very con-
crete message about the
woman wearing it in terms
of her job and her qualifica-
tions. What message, if any,
do modern scrubs send?
Is the meaning of scrubs
concrete or abstract?What Nurses Wear
It might be strange to think that just a few decades ago professional women
with college degrees were expected to show up for work wearing nipped-
waist dresses, frilly aprons, and white linen caps. For more than 100 years,
variations on this theme signified a woman trained in the medical profes-
sion. “The nurse’s cap,” writes nursing historian Christina Bates (2012), “is
one of the most evocative garments ever associated with an occupational
group” (p. 22). Well into the twentieth century, nurses’ uniforms separated
the nurses from the doctors—and coincidentally the ladies from the men—in
the health care field. But they also served as important signifiers. Prior to the
opening of the first nurses’ colleges in the 1830s, nursing was left largely to
religious orders and untrained mothers, wives, and sisters. The adoption of a
uniform—however odd it may seem today—served to provide some status to
the young women who emerged from these nursing schools, separating them
from the women who went before them (Bates, 2012).
Today such ensembles are limited, for the most part, to sexy Halloween
costumes, but most nurses still wear a uniform of sorts: usually a simple
pair of hospital scrubs in any of a number of colors or prints. In contrast to
the nurse uniforms of yore, these simple and practical ensembles are for
the most part gender-neutral. But even these seemingly nondescript items
convey meaning. Research shows that the choice of color or print of scrubs
can have an impact on patients’ perceptions about a nurse’s competence.
Among adult patients who were asked to comment on a variety of nursing
uniforms, white scrubs were perceived as indicative of higher levels of pro-
fessionalism, attentiveness, reliability, empathy, and six other traits than were
colored or print scrubs. But among children and adolescents, there was little
if any discernable difference in the way they perceived different uniforms for
nursing professionals (Albert, Wocial, Meyer, Na, & Trochelman, 2008).
Of course, uniforms are not limited to the nursing profession. Police of-
ficers, sports teams, military and paramilitary organizations, and of course
many schools have dress requirements that are much more strict than those
that govern what today’s nurses wear to work. By dressing in uniform, mem-
bers of these groups convey messages about who they are, what their role is,
and to which group they belong.THINK
ABOUT
THISCOMMUNICATIONACROSSCULTURES
c Personal (18 inches to 4 feet). In the personal zone, we communicate with
friends, relatives, and occasionally colleagues.
c Social (4 to 12 feet). The social zone is most comfortable for communicating in
professional settings, such as business meetings or teacher–student conferences.
c Public (12 feet and beyond). The public zone allows for distance between
interactants at, for example, public speaking events or performances.