Collecting and Recollecting: Gifts from the Recent Past

Nursing Garb

The University of Iowa nurse's cape was worn by students and graduates as they went between the hospital and Westlawn, then the nurses' dormitory. The initials "SUI" stitched on the collar represent "State University of Iowa," The University of Iowa's past official title. Black with gold lining, the cape displays the school colors, and the nurse's creed is printed on its four brass buttons: "Our liberties we prize; our rights we will maintain. Donor Elizabeth Means, RN, purchased the cape in 1944 from Mildred L. Watson (Tollefson) who was graduating and did not wish to keep it. Inside are the original initials "M.L.W." Gift of Elizabeth Keyser Means, RN, Iowa City

15. Nurse's cape and caps

Nurse Cap History
The nurse cap is distinctive in both purpose and style. Its lineage is as long as that of the bridal veil, which, at one time, symbolized women's obedience and humility. For the nurse, the cap was a symbol of service to humankind.

At the turn of the century, many women had very long hair which the nurse's cap was intended to hold to maintain the hygienic environment necessary for patient care. Early caps covered the whole head and were considered unbecoming by nurses. Eventually, these "dust-caps" were replaced by small caps which covered only the knot of hair at the top of the head.

Cap design identified its wearer's alma mater. A black band sewn on the cap signified senior level or graduate status at many schools, and sometimes identified the head nurse on a clinical unit. Its origin is unknown; some people believed the black band was a sign of mourning for Florence Nightingale. Nurse caps are not worn in most health care institutions today because they no longer serve the purposes for which they were designed and can interfere with caregiving.

University of Iowa Graduate Nurse Cap
circa 1944

This peaked-style graduate nurse cap replaced the "muffin" style cap worn at University Hospitals in the 1920's. Stiffened by either starch or sugar water, the linen cap could be folded flat and carried in a book to maintain its shape. Before the Bruck Company of Chicago began manufacturing the caps, nurses fashioned their own caps from men's handkerchiefs. At The State University of Iowa, as the UI was called before 1955, nursing students wore the same basic cap throughout most of their training. Donor Elizabeth Means, RN, remembers receiving her first cap and apron after the mandatory one-semester probationary period. "It was a big thrill because when you first walked down the ward with the cap and bib on, the patients would call you 'Nurse,'" Mrs. Means said. "Capping" was, for the students, the first step toward achieving their professional identity.

16. Nurse's caps that illustrate the different styles

Traditionally, a nurse's first cap was hand-made by a friend or fellow student and worn cuffed and bobby-pinned to the hair. "Most of us got a sore place on our head (from the pins)," Mrs. Means remembers. A quarter-inch black band was added to the senior student's cap and a half-inch black band was worn by graduate nurses. The graduate nurse also exchanged the striped student uniform for a white uniform.

Rules for wearing the cap were very strict. Mrs. Means recalls being among the many nursing students who dared to alter the official shape of their caps by turning out the corners to create "wings," in imitation of the Mercy Hospital nurse caps. "I can remember being told to stand up and 'get rid of my wings' in class," Mrs. Means said. Smoking cigarettes while wearing the cap was also prohibited. When nurses were not wearing their caps, common practice was to carry them inside their apron bibs.

"Much respect was awarded to the nurse cap and uniform at the University," Mrs. Means recalls. "It gave us a sense of pride and identification and it was always interesting because you could tell what school a girl graduated from by the cap she wore."

Gift of Elizabeth Keyser Means, RN, Iowa City

Mount Sinai Nurse's Cap
circa 1945

This nurse's cap originated from the Mount Sinai Hospital School of Nursing* in New York City. Ruth Becker earned it in 1945 and wore it until her retirement from the field in 1954. In 1952 Mrs. Becker moved from New York to Iowa City where she worked at University Hospitals. Most of the nurses working at University Hospitals at that time were local graduates who were unfamiliar with this "foreign head-dress."

Mrs. Becker was reminded of her alma mater every 3 to 4 months, when her unwashable cap became soiled and she had to order a new supply from a single source in New York. At Mount Sinai, this style of cap signified the change from student to graduate status. The Mount Sinai students used a training cap until graduation, when they earned the right to don the ruffled cap with its black stripe. At The University of Iowa, nursing students wore the same basic cap as students and as graduates.

* The school no longer exists.

Given by Ruth H. Becker, RN, Iowa City, in memory of her father, Hans M. Salzmann, MD

University of Iowa Student Nurse Uniform
circa 1950

17. Nurse's uniform

This uniform was worn by Patricia Dunn, RN, when she was a student at The University of Iowa College of Nursing from 1952 to 1956. The "hospital uniform" consisted of a blue and white striped dress, white apron and bib, and starched collar and cuffs. Student nurses wore this uniform only on the hospital wards. To change into the "overseas uniform," worn to classes on the east side of the river, students removed the apron and bib and added a belt, bow tie and military-style cap. This required a quick change for students leaving for class directly from the hospital. Because of this inconvenience, the requirement was eventually dropped. The dress code required that the length of the skirt be three inches below the knee. Sitting on the apron was prohibited. "When you sat down, you had to grab the corners and fold," Mrs. Dunn explains.

Slight modifications in the uniform accompanied the progression from probationary to graduate status. After a probationary period of one semester, "probies" earned their first cap and bib and became Freshmen. At Junior status, they earned a patch which they sewed on their left sleeve. Seniors earned the right to apply a quarter-inch band of black ribbon to their caps; this band would be replaced by a half-inch band at graduation. Throughout their careers, nurses would continue to wear the cap style unique to their alma mater.

When Mrs. Dunn was a Senior in 1955, she took a six-week maternity leave. When she returned to complete her degree, a new nursing curriculum had been established. As a result, she finished her rotations alone and graduated in 1956 as the last member of the Class of 1955. Gift of Patricia Dunn, RN, Ogden, Iowa

18. Nurse's uniform with cap case

Nurse's Pin
circa 1945

This pin design predates that of those worn after 1949 when the School of Nursing became the College of Nursing.

Gift of Mrs. Elizabeth Kayser Means, RN

Mt. Sinai School Pin
1945

On Loan from Mrs. Ruth Becker, RN

Medical and Surgical Nursing II
By Amy Frances Brown, RN, BEd, MS, Ph.D
Philadelphia: W.B. Saunders Company
1959

Amy Frances Brown, a 1936 graduate of The State University of Iowa School of Nursing, published several manuals on nursing. This book is dedicated to her nursing instructors at Iowa. Dr. Brown, who researched and developed nursing curricula, was one of the first nursing alumna from the University of Iowa to receive a PhD Several of her works have been published in other languages.

This book is donated on behalf of Dr. Brown by her longtime friend and college roommate, Elizabeth Keyser Means.

Gift of Elizabeth Keyser Means, RN, Iowa City