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Advanced Practice

A scoping review exploring people’s perceptions of healthcare uniforms

13 August 2024
Professional
02 August 2024
Volume 33 · Issue 15

Abstract

Background:

Healthcare staff uniforms are a subject of debate in the UK, and this is particularly true in the case of less understood roles such as advanced nurse practitioners. Aim: This review explores what is known about people’s perceptions of health professionals’ uniforms.

Method:

A mixed methods scoping review following the Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) methodology. Five databases (CINAHL, ASSIA, PsycINFO, and EMBASE) and several search engines were searched. Eligible reports were peer-reviewed English-language studies using any methodology to explore people’s perceptions of different uniforms for health professionals.

Findings:

Forty-six studies (mainly from North America) were included, presenting a variety of perspectives on the uniforms worn by doctors, nurses and other health professionals.

Conclusion:

Culture and context likely influence how uniforms are understood. Practitioners should consider how this may affect communication with both patients and colleagues. What health professionals wear matters, particularly in relation to less well understood roles.

Healthcare uniforms vary both globally and within the UK. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland introduced national uniforms between 2010 and 2011, and NHS England has been consulting with staff for years over potentially introducing a national uniform (NHS Supply Chain, 2021). On unveiling the designs of these uniforms in 2023, a common criticism was that nursing roles were poorly delineated within the 15 colourways presented by NHS England (Church, 2023). Due to a similar issue, NHS Scotland introduced a new uniform for nurse leaders or nurse managers in 2018, yet there is still not a specific uniform for advanced nurse practitioners (ANPs) (Scottish Government, 2018).

The argument has been made that distinct uniforms for nurses in advanced roles such as ANPs are of value (Bryson, 2016), and research involving clinical nurse specialists (CNSs) suggest that they prefer not to wear the same uniforms as staff nurses (Timmons and East, 2011).

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Uniforms
Nurse uniforms
Review