In most care homes you would probably see staff members in uniforms and nurse staff in scrubs, and this is just one of many reasons why our care homes aren’t like the rest.
In our Monmouth Nursing Home, our staff don’t wear uniforms and we even encourage our night staff to wear their pyjamas. This is all part of our household model of care, which is highly individualised and focuses on person-centred care. We have tried to remove the institutional feel that you sometimes get in care homes and make ours more like real homes.
We’ve found that the no uniforms policy has helped the people that live with us feel more relaxed, more comfortable and more like they are truly in their own home. Our staff are there to provide them with support, not to control them in any way, and the lack of uniforms helps to reinforce this.
Think about it, if you woke up in the middle of the night and saw somebody in a formal uniform you would most likely be confused. Whereas if you saw somebody else in their pyjamas; it would seem more normal and you’d be able to go back to sleep.
The most important thing to us is that our residents feel safe, happy and relaxed in their home, and not having uniforms helps us to achieve all of this.