Nurses Face Edict: Off With the Caps

The traditional white cap worn by generations of nurses since Florence Nightingale has been banned as outmoded and unhygienic in East Dyfed, angering nurses, doctors and patients, the Royal College of Nursing said Monday.

“The paper cap might look cute but it is more appropriate for an assistant in a supermarket than for hospital staff,” said Tony Haughey, chief nursing officer of East Dyfed Health Authority. “The cap has been banned on grounds of hygiene.”

“Nurses feel strongly that they want to keep their caps--they are defying the ban, risking disciplinary action by the health authority,” Ann Peggington, spokeswoman for the Royal College of Nursing, said.

Dr. Geraint Roberts, a consultant at Glangwlli hospital, sided with the nurses, commenting that “the logical extension of that argument (over hygiene) would be for nurses to carry out their duties in the nude.”