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For hard-working Nurse Assistants, a uniform that provides comfort and functionality is crucial. A professional appearance gives your patients confidence and represents your work with pride. So, your uniform as a Certified Nurse Assistant (CNA) should check all those boxes. Let’s look at some key features of CNA clinical uniforms to keep in mind as you seek the right scrubs for the job.
What Does a CNA Wear?
Scrubs are worn by medical professionals to accommodate full mobility, provide shift-long comfort, and protect from biological matter. Scrubs typically consist of a short-sleeve shirt and long pants. Nurse scrubs need to accommodate the movement involved in your work, so your new clinical uniform shouldn’t be tight. Neither should it be so baggy you’re swimming in it. A relaxed fit allows you to do your job unimpeded, your scrubs working with you to ensure success.
CNA Uniform Tips
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Breathable:
A CNA clinical uniform’s fabric should be breathable and lightweight, but tough. You’ll be wearing your scrubs through challenging shifts, so you’ll also want the fabric they’re made from to be soft against your skin.
Functional:
Pockets, pockets, pockets. The CNA needs the function of pockets to meet the challenges of the job. So, look for scrubs that feature pockets that serve your professional duties. Scrubs that include a zip pocket on shirts and pants get extra points, allowing you to secure small valuables.
Moisture-wicking:
Moisture-wicking is a “must-have” in a CNA clinical uniform to keep you as cool, calm, and collected as you need to be on the frontline of healthcare. Fabric that moves with you, stretching at the knees, is also a desirable trait in fabric for scrubs.
Low-maintenance:
Look for textiles that resist fading and wrinkling to keep your scrubs looking their professional best. Polyester now creates fabrics that lend themselves well to the demands placed on scrubs. When blended with Spandex, the resulting fabric is ideal for a clinical uniform.
CNA Scrubs Colors and Designs
Today’s scrubs are available in numerous colors and patterns, providing options for CNAs who want to feel great wearing them. But the design of scrubs has changed too! You can now purchase a clinical uniform with panels at the sides of the top that expand to work with you, enhancing both comfort and function. Scrubs are also more fitted than they used to be, cut to offer a less bulky, sleeker, more professional fit.
Some healthcare institutions have nursing uniform rules about scrubs and the color or pattern. Sometimes, staff will be limited in their choices due to the institution’s policy. However, specifying colors can often serve the patient, providing stability and reducing the potential for confusion about staff identity. Some institutions prescribe specific colors for the various healthcare roles, making it clear at a glance who’s doing what, offering professional efficiency and clarity.
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When you’re not limited by provider regulation, you’ll find scrubs in every color of the rainbow and a wide assortment of patterns. But some colors are more conducive to the delivery of quality healthcare than others!
Royal Blue is the choice of many healthcare professionals for a number of reasons. CNAs love this color for its ability to hide stains that occur in the line of work. Blue is also known as a “calming” color, and it may help to put patients at ease. For pediatric healthcare professionals, preferred colors are pink and purple, both associated with nurture and safety.
Whether your work as a CNA takes you to an institution with a dress code or a setting with more freedom about the color or colors you wear, remember that colors are read subconsciously and can set the tone of your patient interactions. Choose wisely to start off on the right foot!
Happy Feet, Happy CNA!
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Health professionals need comfortable shoes that support arches and cushion the soles of the feet. Choose a shoe with a generous toe box that features a slip-proof sole.
And whatever you do, choose the right socks! There is nothing worse than working a challenging shift with socks that don’t keep your feet happy. Socks made from a breathable material that wicks away moisture and odor are what every CNA needs. Wearing bamboo socks benefits your feet, fulfilling their need for on-the-job comfort. And happy feet make a happy, effective CNA!
Dress for Success
You’re studying to become a CNA to enter the fulfilling world of healthcare. For all its demands, it’s one of the most rewarding fields to work in. Your hands are dedicated to helping and healing. With the right CNA clinical uniform, you will get the job done in comfort, functionality, and professionalism.
If you want to kickstart your nursing career, use our Free CNA School Search tool. Just enter your zip code to find Nursing Assistant Schools near you. You can also search for hybrid medical classes and online CNA classes.