Stressed Out Nurses Weekly, June 8, 2009
It's become a tired joke on TV shows through the years: A patient's gown opens in the back and reveals his or her bottom. But the reality can be quite serious and embarrassing for hospital visitors.
Idaho registered nurse Carleen Egbert and anesthesiologist Brian Kerr are hoping to change that—and increase dignity and privacy—with a new design. The duo conceptualized the idea for a gown that parted on the side and tied in the front in 2005. Four years later, the first shipment of 150,000 are on their way to the United States from China.
St. Luke's Boise (ID) Medical Center and Saint Alphonsus Regional Medical Center, also in Boise, are looking into using the gowns. The design is also intended to help provide medical professionals with better access to certain areas of the body and reduce double-gowning, which makes patient monitoring and laundry more difficult.
Source: Buffalo News
In Boise, registered nurse Carleen Egbert teamed with anesthesiologist Brian Kerr to design a gown that parts at each side and is tied in the front with a sash. Nearly four years after the two came up with the idea, the initial shipment containing 150,000 gowns is en route from China to the United States.
The gowns will not only give patients more privacy, they'll also make it easier for doctors and nurses to access"parts of patients' bodies that are blocked by traditional gowns, especially if patients are double-gowned," according to the Idaho Statesman.
The Wall Street Journal reported that medical historians think the modern day gowns "evolved from nightshirts patients wore in hospitals in the 1800s." Various incarnations of that era's open-back style have been around since the 1920s. "Nobody is happy with it," Blanton Godfrey, dean of North Carolina State University's College of Textiles, told the Journal.
If there's any doubt that this is a real issue of concern for the medical profession and all who rely on it, consider that the University of Cincinnati is hosting a medical gown fashion show on June 12. The options include gowns that can "all be created from one pattern—a practice that would cut down on waste and inefficiency," according to Medgadget.
Lamar explained to the paper that the current gowns in use are "undignified and immodest," and have led patients to feel "mortified at the thought of getting out of the bed."
And in New Jersey, former cancer patient Brenda Jones has created "Hug Wraps," cozier versions of hospital gowns in bright colors that are lined in flannel, which she makes by hand with "donated fabric and thread." She hopes to make the gowns affordable for many hospitals; one in Pennsylvania, The Charles A. and Betty Bott Cancer Center at Holy Redeemer Hospital and Medical Center, has shown strong interest.
Jones, who works as a veterinary technician and pet sitter, told The Times of Trenton that her loftiest dream "is to find someone that can help me get these mass produced."
Dear cyahospitalgowns,
My lovely bride just left the hospital and used your gown - excellent! She and all the nurses loved the simplicity and utility of the design. We've washed them several times and the material holds up just fine. The snaps are quality as is the stitching. Looking forward to getting mine to use as a home robe. It's light enough for the summer.
Will leave you excellent feedback, as I have for my lovely bride's robes.
Thanks!
Michael
- mtcyinyang