What is the impact of staff wearing uniforms in psychiatric inpatient settings?

• Published in: Journal of psychiatric intensive care Vol. 17; no. 2; pp. 89 - 97
• Main Authors: Collingwood, Sophie, McKenzie-Smith, Laura
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: East Kilbride NAPICU (National Association of Psychiatric Intensive Care 01.09.2021; National Association of Psychiatric Intensive Care and Low Secure Units, NAPICU
• Subjects: Health services; Mental health; Mental Heath; Nurses; Power; Psychiatric Inpatient; Qualitative research; Questionnaires; Therapeutic Relationship; Uniform; Uniforms
• ISSN: 1742-6464; 1744-2206
• DOI: 10.20299/jpi.2021.006

Background : Uniform has traditionally been worn in psychiatric inpatient and other mental health settings, but there has been a move to non-uniform in recent years. Some services have made the change back to uniform, raising questionsabout the potential impact on patients and staff. Aim : To review the impact of uniform within a psychiatric inpatient or mental health setting. Method : Databases were searched for articles exploring the impact of uniform use using specified search terms. Articles were assessed for suitability with inclusion and exclusion criteria, critically appraised, then analysed for themes using thematic analysis. Results : 17 papers were included in the review. Thematic analysis identified five main themes and 29 subthemes. Main themes were Attitudes and interactions , A freer environment , Are you both nurses? , The ‘ideal self’ and There are more important things . A critical appraisal of the articles suggested issues with validityand reliability, which are discussed. Discussion : Studies identified that wearing non-uniform facilitated positive changes in both patients and staff. This raises the potential negative impact of uniform on both patients and staff, and the role of power imbalance in these settings is discussed. Further themes around identification of staff out of uniform were considered. Implications for practice : The use of uniform in mental health and psychiatric inpatient settings should be considered carefully, due to the potential negative impact, whilst also recognising the importance of staff identification and supporting professional identity.