Hospital gown

A hospital gown, also known as a patient gown, exam gown, johnny shirt or johnny gown, is a short-sleeved, thigh-length garment worn by patients in hospitals and other medical facilities.

The hospital gown is made of fabric that can withstand repeated laundering in hot water, usually cotton, and is fastened at the back with twill tape ties. Disposable hospital gowns may be made of paper or thin plastic, with paper or plastic ties.

Most doctors, especially in hospitals, find hospital gowns convenient for listening to the heart and lungs. For nurses, giving vaccinations in the buttocks becomes easier because patients do not have to undress, since they already have already undressed. Hospital gowns are also much thinner and looser than regular clothing, so overheating of a patient is less likely and the patient will not be bothered by other factors relevant to normal clothing, such as with uncomfortable clothing, changing into other clothing, or using the toilet. The gown is significantly easier to move around in, making them comfortable.Fact|date=September 2008

It is commonly commented on that the gown never quite closes properly and is revealing,Cite web|url=http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,129210,00.html|title=Muslim Patients Prompt New Hospital Gowns|date=2004-08-17|accessdate=2008-09-16|publisher=Associated Press on Fox News] even though it was designed that way to assist doctors with older patients that had difficulty changing themselves.Fact|date=September 2008

There have been efforts to modify the gowns to better suit patients, particularly women, by reducing how much a gown reveals of the body.Cite web|title=N. Texan Creates Less-Revealing Hospital Gown|url=http://www.nbc5i.com/news/15909839/detail.html|publisher=NBC|date=2008-04-17|accessdate=2008-09-16] In 2008, North Texas x-ray technician Tam Nguyen of Presbyterian Hospital of Allen created larger gowns with velcro patches in the chest area. They are also pink in color, in honor of breast cancer patients. News of the new gowns spread to as far as Kansas City. For Muslim women, it was embarrassing and shameful to them to have to reveal their bodies, so new gowns were provided in a Portland, Oregon hospital in 2004. The gowns were long enough to cover a patient's legs and revealed less of the backside, and it even had a wraparound sarong to reveal even less of the body.

Earlier in 1999, designer Cynthia Rowley created new gowns that were mid-calf length, had a mock turtleneck and three-quarter length sleeves with snaps for women. She also created a gown with drawstring pants, a short sleeve shirt and a matching robe for men. in the same year, Missouri state Representative Sam Gaskill attempted to push a bill that would have required hospitals to provide patients with gowns that would cover the body from the neck to the knee, a bill which never made it out of committee.

Notes and references

See also

* Adaptive clothing
* Gown
* Nightgown