Authors
- Martina Geljić — Health Center of the Primorje-Gorski Kotar County, Palliative Care Department, Rijeka, Croatia
- Saša Uljančić — Medical School in Rijeka, Rijeka, Croatia
- Saša Uljančić — University of Rijeka, Faculty of Health Studies, Department of Nursing, Rijeka, Croatia
Article type:
Review
Abstract:
Nurse uniform has a diverse and rich history. Nurses were known for their standard dress, a nurse’s cap, or the different markings that ranked them by education. Through the years, the form of the dresses changed, caps at one point totally disappeared, and there has been modernization of uniforms as seen in all health institutions. In Croatia, nursing uniform is not protected by law. Therefore, we see other non-health workers wearing the same uniform as nurses. Uniforms for nurses are a form of nonverbal communication that signifies the nurse’s skills and knowledge with which they are competent to care for the patient. Uniform is a powerful form of nonverbal communication; it is related to the holder’s identity, authority, and status. Equally, the uniform completes and raises the profession to a certain level. Unfortunately, nursing in Croatia, although it has professional status, is not complemented due to the lack of recognition, uniqueness, and protection. Today nurses are not recognized by anything, not even by their uniform. The variety of uniforms and colors in hospitals reflects nurses’ dissatisfaction in terms of their recognition. Nurses should be recognizable to patients and to other people who come to the health facility, and also for the competition of the nursing profession.
Keywords:
nursing history, nursing uniforms, nursing caps