Guest guest Posted June 15, 1999 Report Share Posted June 15, 1999 Carol, Instead of thinking about comfort or professionalism, think about marketing. What would a corporation do? Your image is part of what you're selling. Look at Disney. The clothes match the image or the theme the customer is expecting. What is your facilities " theme " and who are your customers (don't forget those who refer as customers). For instance, if your facility caters to young, athletic outpatients, then the look could be shorts and golf shirts with the logo. But if you serve older customers at say a religious hospital then shorts may very well offend them. Would a patient in a critical unit think a therapist in shorts is taking their situation seriously enough? In my opinion, how we dress is more about what sells than history. Just my thoughts. Lundy,MS PT PCS Ponte Vedra Florida ------------------------------------------------------------------------ eGroups.com home: /group/ptmanager - Simplifying group communications Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted June 15, 1999 Report Share Posted June 15, 1999 In a message dated 6/15/99 11:53:21 AM Eastern Daylight Time, djette@... writes: > Three years ago my husband and I were in a serious auto accident in > Hawaii. My husband spent 4 weeks as an inpatient. The staff often > dressed casually...aloha attire. We never thought of them as anything > but professional. They were some of the most caring, open and friendly > health care professionals that I have ever met. The care was > excellent. Being a New Englander, I realized that we are terribly > " buttoned-down " both in dress and demeanor. The dress matters little, > the science and caring count. > -- > Diane U. Jette > Graduate Program in Physical Therapy > Graduate School for Health Studies > COllege > 300 The Fenway > Boston, MA 02115-5898 > phone fax > Well said! Lets focus on what REALLY matters....... ------------------------------------------------------------------------ eGroups.com home: /group/ptmanager - Simplifying group communications Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted June 15, 1999 Report Share Posted June 15, 1999 My 2 cents on the issue: a uniform of khaki or navy pants with logo shirts is fine. does your organization have corporate colors? those colors may be choices for the shirts so that there may be a white shirt with the corporate logo and a colored shirt. As for shorts in a hospital setting: Not appropriate however Culotte skirts for women which are at least knee length may work. I have worn them myself when in a pediatrs facility. The only place shorts may appropriate in a facility with AC is a pediatric outpatient or early intervention facility and then in a uniform manner. As far as home health, the comments from the gentleman from Ohio made sense. And as for scrubs: they can be professional. All scrubs are not the OR type. We wear the kind that look like sport pants with polo shirts or hospital t-shirts and lab coats. Pick a color scheme for scrubs and one or two patterns for lab coats that every one can where and It will identify your department. What we do requires ease of movement and comfort, as well as durability and safety. These can be met in a variety of ways as long as there is consistency. The not alloweds are jeans, tank tops , t-shirts that are offensive or dobvious advertising for commercial products or groups other than the company. Shoes are closed toe, leather or mostly white tennis shoes ( can't say all white these days immpossible to find) or other solid color full shoe in plain colors. I actually prefer no clogs as I can not see how they can be safe when transfering patients etc. Pat Pat Corrigan Jobes, PT Director of Therapy Methodist Healthcare-North Hospital 3960 New Covington Pike Memphis, Tn 38128 Phone: (901)384-5320 Fax: (901)384-5099 E-Mail: jobesm@... >>> " Carol Rehder " 06/14/99 05:02PM >>> Staff are asking about going to khaki or navy slacks and sport shirt tops with medical center logo. One of our therapists asked about wearing khaki / navy shorts with shirts in the warmer months. She asked me to pose the question to our ptmanager group to find out how many hospitals out there have allowed this change in dress code. (We are a 500 bed acute care hospital, no outpt. services in our cost center. Have large Rehab, Skilled, and Ortho units. Thanks ahead of time for your thoughts and comments. >>> 06/14 1:20 PM >>> What setting do you work in? What type of population? Sherman,MA,PT,OCS Coconut Creek, FL ------------------------------------------------------------------------ eGroups.com home: /group/ptmanager - Simplifying group communications ------------------------------------------------------------------------ eGroups.com home: /group/ptmanager - Simplifying group communications ------------------------------------------------------------------------ eGroups.com home: /group/ptmanager - Simplifying group communications Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted June 15, 1999 Report Share Posted June 15, 1999 Thank you everyone for your quick response! I told staff I would probably have 5 responses by this morning. (I had 10!) I will be sharing your information with them at our noon hour department meeting...... Thanks again!!! >>> 06/15 8:56 AM >>> Carol, Instead of thinking about comfort or professionalism, think about marketing. What would a corporation do? Your image is part of what you're selling. Look at Disney. The clothes match the image or the theme the customer is expecting. What is your facilities " theme " and who are your customers (don't forget those who refer as customers). For instance, if your facility caters to young, athletic outpatients, then the look could be shorts and golf shirts with the logo. But if you serve older customers at say a religious hospital then shorts may very well offend them. Would a patient in a critical unit think a therapist in shorts is taking their situation seriously enough? In my opinion, how we dress is more about what sells than history. Just my thoughts. Lundy,MS PT PCS Ponte Vedra Florida ------------------------------------------------------------------------ eGroups.com home: /group/ptmanager - Simplifying group communications ------------------------------------------------------------------------ eGroups.com home: /group/ptmanager - Simplifying group communications Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted June 15, 1999 Report Share Posted June 15, 1999 Madeleine Sawyer wrote: > > Shorts are unacceptable in this facility according to hospital and dept policy. It was felt that shorts do not convey a professional image. > Madeleine Sawyer > Pitt County Memorial Hosp > Greenville , NC > > >>> " Carol Rehder " 06/14 6:02 PM >>> > Staff are asking about going to khaki or navy slacks and sport shirt tops with medical center logo. One of our therapists asked about wearing khaki / navy shorts with shirts in the warmer months. She asked me to pose the question to our ptmanager group to find out how many hospitals out there have allowed this change in dress code. (We are a 500 bed acute care hospital, no outpt. services in our cost center. Have large Rehab, Skilled, and Ortho units. Thanks ahead of time for your thoughts > > >>> 06/14 1:20 PM >>> > What setting do you work in? What type of population? > > Sherman,MA,PT,OCS > Coconut Creek, FL > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > > eGroups.com home: /group/ptmanager > - Simplifying group communications > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > > eGroups.com home: /group/ptmanager > - Simplifying group communications > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > > eGroups.com home: /group/ptmanager > - Simplifying group communications Three years ago my husband and I were in a serious auto accident in Hawaii. My husband spent 4 weeks as an inpatient. The staff often dressed casually...aloha attire. We never thought of them as anything but professional. They were some of the most caring, open and friendly health care professionals that I have ever met. The care was excellent. Being a New Englander, I realized that we are terribly " buttoned-down " both in dress and demeanor. The dress matters little, the science and caring count. -- Diane U. Jette Graduate Program in Physical Therapy Graduate School for Health Studies COllege 300 The Fenway Boston, MA 02115-5898 phone fax ------------------------------------------------------------------------ eGroups.com home: /group/ptmanager - Simplifying group communications Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted June 15, 1999 Report Share Posted June 15, 1999 I'm old enough to remember culottes, skirts, and nurses with caps, so almost anything's better than that! Still, I'd vote for scrubs rather than shorts. Being an acute care, another important factor to be considered is infection control. Scrubs allow for another barrier between contamination or scratches of the skin of the therapists; shorts leave the skin exposed. Also, in the event of major contamination or spills, you could probably get 'a loaner' set from your OR. Scrubs also can usually be sanitized/disinfected more thoroughly than dressy style shorts, and if the therapist buy their own, still can count as a uniform for tax purposes. Reisa Fedorchuck, MS PT, Director Physical Therapist Assistant Program Housatonic Community Technical College 900 Lafayette Blvd. Bridgeport, CT 06604 ho_reisa@... ------------------------------------------------------------------------ eGroups.com home: /group/ptmanager - Simplifying group communications Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted June 17, 1999 Report Share Posted June 17, 1999 Perhaps we are old fashioned but my wife and partner [also a PT] and I still require our staff to dress as the professionals they are. White coats on the females and ties on the males. Slacks and comfortable dress shoes. We have several dress down days during the year for special occasions [PT Week clothes] and Halloween. We had provided a uniform allowance per month up until last year so we felt it appropriate to " suggest " dress to reflect our professional status. As an outpatient facility [3] we felt our atmosphere should at least equal that of the referring physicians. My .02. Pete ------------------------------------------------------------------------ eGroups.com home: /group/ptmanager - Simplifying group communications Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted June 17, 1999 Report Share Posted June 17, 1999 I agree with the comments made in the preceding message. At our office, (home care), the therapists are allowed to wear shorts as long as they are no more than 2 inches above the knee. I have sent a few home in the past, but generally we don't have a problem. Incidentally, we have 2 employees who have MS and can't get " overheated. " They were allowed to wear shorts. That lead to the rest of the employees asking to do so (using examples similar to the ones in the messages before). We too, are in a HOT and humid environment and see many patient who have no AC. We have had this policy for 5 years and have had only one complaint. Greg Hartley, MSPT, GCS Director of Clinical Services Rehab Concepts Birmingham, AL ------------------------------------------------------------------------ eGroups.com home: /group/ptmanager - Simplifying group communications Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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