A Feather in My Cap

Early in my training at Penn State for my nursing degree, I was doing some “practical, hands-on learning” classes in a nearby nursing home. The training was to correctly change bed linens, give patient care, pass medications, and how to chart.

My question is why do nursing education start out with the elderly? Do they think that if a student nurse should make a mistake, well they’re old, right?

We were there for several weeks and the routine became more comfortable. One of the nurses allowing her mind to wander, asked me, “Where is your nursing cap?’

It was a time when female nurses were required to wear caps. You could tell from which institution a nurse graduated by the cap she wore. Men weren’t required to wear the cumbersome caps.

I replied, “I don’t know. You’ll have to ask the dean of nursing.”

She didn’t say a word, but disappeared only to return a few minutes later. She went to the kitchen and returned with an institutional sized Melita coffee filter in her hands. She walked over to me and using white bobby pins, she attached it to my hair and yes, I had hair then.

It was near the end of the day. The other students and the nursing home’s residents thought it was funny. So I kept the “cap” on my head until the end of the day. It was a “no big deal”. And if it brightened the residents’ day and it kept the female students at bay, it was worth it.

If I had fussed, making a big deal out of my “nursing cap,” I would have been the target of harassment from female students from then on. From my several years in the Navy, I learned it was always easier to laugh and go along with the joke, than making a big stink and complain about it. Fussing puts a person in the crosshairs for more harassment.

At the next session at the nursing home, I was bare headed. Immediately I was confronted by the female students, “Where is your nursing cap?”

Thinking quickly, I replied, “You know, it got dirty. I washed it last night and it fell apart.”

They laughed and shook their heads at my wise crack, then walked away.

I had managed to dodge the bullet. By using a bit of humor, I escaped being harangued about wearing a coffee filter for a second day.