Children's responses to nursing attire

To investigate how nursing attire affects children.

One hundred children ages 3, 4, and 5 years were interviewed. Fifty of the children had previously been hospitalized and 50 had no hospital experience. Five color photographs of a nurse representing five different uniform styles were shown to each child. The children were asked to select a photograph in response to questions.

Fifty-eight percent of the children preferred the smock top. The traditional white uniform was considered frightening by 41% of the children. Chi Square analysis finds the differences in selection of uniforms to be significant at the .001 level.

The children preferred and were least frightened by the colorful smock top uniform style. The least preferred and most frightful attire was the traditional dress uniform.