News Strict clothing regulations vex nurses

[thomas]

Local and international media often focus on Japan's sometimes restrictive clothing regulations at schools, with some educational facilities even stipulating underwear colours. Asahi ran a story about hospital medical staff who seem to be subjected to similar restrictions. I have no idea whether medical institutions in other countries have similar rules; however, a Tokyo nurse working at a university hospital was reprimanded for wearing black socks instead of the mandated white ones.

Image: Asahi Shinbun​

A 27-year-old nurse working at a university hospital in Tokyo quickly learned the answer. "What colour are your socks?" her supervisor asked her at the nurses' station. "Why are they black?" Only a sliver of her black ankle socks could be seen beneath her trousers, but it was enough to earn a scolding for breaking the "white-socks-only" rule for nurses there. "I ran out of spare white ones," the nurse told her boss, explaining that she was so exhausted from work that she had no time to do her laundry. In an interview with The Asahi Shimbun, the nurse railed against the sock regulation and other "absurd" hospital rules, which have been criticized by other healthcare workers around Japan. "I don't understand why only nurses have to follow these rules," she said, noting that doctors can wear whatever colour socks they like. She also said nurses could not wear cardigans over their short-sleeved uniforms when they are around patients, even on frigid winter days. The nurse says she feels so cold on night shifts.

White socks, no jacket, no water: ‘Absurd’ rules frustrate nurses | The Asahi Shimbun: Breaking News, Japan News and Analysis

 

[Grandpa Frank]

When I started in nursing in 1992 I had to wear all white uniforms including shoes. Around 1995 , we were allowed to wear colored "scrubs" but still had inspections on clean hands and fingernails and facial hair and haircuts. By state law we had to do 12 hours of training and tests each year. Pay was horrible and when I retired in 2012 , pay was only $7 US per hour.