Can Medical Uniforms Cure Status Anxiety?

Organisations and businesses work best when the people in them are clear about where they stand, and that, regardless of their rank or role, they feel valued. Medical Uniforms are a key way of making a workforce feel both unified and empowered, identifying employees as both professional and capable.

Medical uniforms are comparatively neglected in any analysis of how people and systems work, but fresh, contemporary designs and a versatile, diverse range of styles can contribute to an individual’s sense of status.

 

Uniforms and Morale

What people wear at work defines professional boundaries and helps them form their professional identities. However, uniforms can also feel like something imposed from above, especially if they are perceived as unattractive, uncomfortable or both. And they can lead to a kind of divisive tribalism.

A significant source of morale among medical professionals and support workers is their devotion to duty,” comments Joanne Hunt of Pastelli UK. “A uniform can help create a sense of belonging and professional pride, reinforcing the individual’s function and the collective effort.”

Ultimately, medical uniforms should engender a sense of empowerment in the individual, and there is no better way to do this than to ensure that they are stylish, durable and functional.

 

New Styles in Medical Uniforms

Designs for professional medical wear have evolved and diversified. What modern medical uniform styles now offer is a sense of individuality within an organisational setting.

“The challenge is to be able to define roles and status while bringing out a very human, approachable character in the wearer,” Joanne remarks.

With the availability of both off-the-shelf and bespoke designed garments, the whole concept of medical wear has moved on dramatically from the formality and uniformity of previous generations.

This reflects how people’s everyday interactions with medical professionals and medical staff have changed with time. This relative informality has replaced professional deference and unquestioned authority.

Contemporary uniform designs can help with how medical staff build relationships with the public and reinforce a sense of professional status.

“A medical practice or organisation has its own identity and hierarchy. But this identity is a collective creation, made up of individuals working in it. These individuals need to understand their part in the whole set-up while feeling they have something of value to contribute. Giving them well-designed, stylish uniforms that enhance their sense of status is simply sensible practice,”
Joanne concludes.