An Evidence Based Approach to Creating a New Nursing Dress Code

The issue of revising the dress code for nurses was submitted to the Nursing Practice Council. There was concern that patients could not identify the registered nurse (RN) in the hospital. Additionally, physical appearance can impact the perception of professionalism and has the potential to influence the therapeutic relationship. Evidence: A review of the literature yielded many opinion articles but little evidence to support a particular dress code. Strategy: The nurses designed and conducted a prospective descriptive study using survey methodology. Institutional Review Board approval was granted. The research questions were: 1. How well can patients identify the RN? 2. How would patients prefer to identify the RN? 3. What manner of dress for nurses do patients prefer? 4. What are the patients ’ perceptions of the professionalism of the nurses