King's Health District (Teaching). INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE WEARING OF UNIFORM BY NURSING STAFF IN THE KING'S HEALTH DISTRICT Nurses in uniform presenting a crisp, professional appearance inspire confidence and boost the morale of patients, visitors, hospital staff and the general public with whom they come into contact. INDOOR UNIFORM 1. Dresses All uniform dresses should be worn at knee length. 2. Cardigans Navy cardigans may be worn over indoor uniforms only in the classrooms, dining rooms and corridoors. Cardigans are not to be worn in the wards or departments or in any area in which a patient is being treated. Navy cardigans may be worn instead of uniform coats in hot weather. 3. Aprons Aprons, male nurses' white tunics, and Sisters' sleeve frills must be taken off when leaving the ward or department for meals, and for off-duty and may not be worn in the dining room. 4. Jewellery Wedding rings are the only form of jewellery which may be worn. 5. Hair Hair style must be neat and professional and be above the collar. If a male nurse wears a beard, it must be short and neatly trimmed. 6. Nails Nails must be kept short. Nail varnish may not be worn on duty. OUTDOOR UNIFORM Nursing staff must wear either full outdoor uniform or mufti when travelling and walking between staff residences, or non-residential accommodation, and the hospital in which they are working. If uniform is worn when nursing staff travel to and from staff residences in hospital transport, they must wear either full outdoor uniform or full indoor uniform, except for aprons in the latter case. N.B. Full outdoor uniform includes hat or beret, uniform coat, uniform dress, uniform shoes and stockings. (Colour of shoes and stockings are according to grade). In hot weather the uniform coat need not be worn, or can be replaced by the regulation navy cardigan. Nursing staff are asked to change from outdoor uniform in the accommodation provided and not in the wards or departments.. February 1977 District Nursing Officer |
King's College Hospital in the 1980s. by Sarah |
Here are some pics of Student Nurses wearing the uniform I wore as a Student at Kings. These are from 1984 & 1987. Personally, it is the best uniform I ever wore, and we had the traditional starched white aprons. You could hear us crackling as we walked down the corridoor when we had fresh aprons on! I showed the pictures to a couple of Student Nurses on my ward, it was interesting that they both thought it would be better to return to wearing the traditional uniform with hat and apron which goes against the impression you would get from reading Nursing Times etc. |
Here are the Uniform Regulations. |
Added March 2007 Two genuine 1970s/1980s Kings' uniforms, complete with aprons, belts and caps, recently on offer on Ebay. |
