Analysis of Male and Female Nurses’ Attitudes toward Nurse Uniforms in South Korea: The Functional, Expressive, and Aesthetic (FEA) Framework

Abstract

The goals are to investigate attitudes toward pantsuit uniforms versus scrubs between male and female nurses, and to analyze nurse uniform design preferences. It is important to thoroughly investigate both male and female nurses’ attitudes toward uniform designs. Applying the Functional, Expressive, and Aesthetic conceptual framework serves to understand nurses’ attitudes toward uniforms. Five female and six male nurses in South Korea participated in focus group interviews for this study. The participants revealed that male and female nurses hold similar views regarding their functional aspects with respect to comfort, convenience, and infection risk. Concerning the expressive aspects of uniforms, both male and female nurses believe that scrubs enhance their occupational value, status expression, self-control, self-image, and professional image, compared to pantsuits. With respect to aesthetic aspects, however, the male and female nurses in this study report different views of androgyny. While scrubs share both feminine and masculine stylistic traits, the male nurses still view their current uniforms as feminine in design. The FEA framework enhances an understanding of male and female nurses’ attitudes toward uniforms by investigating their perspectives. The study implications provide further support for design improvement and research in the field of clothing within the health professions.