Early StagesNursing uniforms provid

Early Stages
Nursing uniforms provide a protective barrier between the wearer and external world, while sending unspoken messages related to occupation and societal positioning. Craik states, “Uniforms shape who individuals are and how they perform their identities.”(4). In examining the history and symbolic evolution of nursing attire, one must consider the function of women’s fashions and the analogous relationship between social dress and work dress. According to Ewing, “The history of women in uniform is closely bound with their position in the community, in particular their movement into the community, therefore uniforms were a key element of the process of negotiating new forms of femininity.”(8