Fashioning the Future Nurse
On Wednesday 12 May the Florence Nightingale School of Nursing & Midwifery, King’s College London celebrated the completion of an innovative educational collaboration with London College of Fashion (LCF) to design a prototype uniform for nursing and midwifery students.
The chosen design, produced by a student who works part time as a healthcare assistant to supplement her student finances, took centre stage at a memorial service at Westminster Abbey which celebrated the life and work of Florence Nightingale in the centennial year of her death. Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Nobel Peace Laureate, Fellow and King’s alumnus, made an address to the congregation of 2000 nurses, midwives, students and health care professionals and met the students in their uniforms for tea.
The project, generously supported by Guy’s and St Thomas’ Charity, gave 44 second year students from the BA Fashion Design and Development degree at LCF a brief to develop new design proposals fit for the challenges and demands of the 21st century nurse and midwife and the promise that the chosen design would be made up as a small professionally produced collection.
LCF students were ‘buddied’ with their nursing and midwifery contemporaries at the School over four months in order to build a detailed understanding of the role of a nurse. This experience included trips to Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust for observation purposes and seminars on topics ranging from the history of nursing, sustainability in textile production, to advances in material science and smart fabrics in the healthcare industry.
At the end of March a specialist panel of nursing professionals, LCF designers and the project curator Holly Tebbutt, met shortlisted students to discuss their ideas. Student Pandora Howard-Griffin’s designs were chosen for production as they reflected a subtle and well-researched understanding of the ergonomic challenges facing men and women working in the nursing profession.
Professor Anne Marie Rafferty, Head of the School, said: ‘The students had to work to a tight brief which took account of form as well as function and had to worked to Royal College of Nursing guidelines on uniforms. Pandora's design demonstrated flair as well as form and function. Her attention to detail and comfort through the innovative use of hidden pockets, stretch vents and the versatility of the design for men and women added to the appeal and practicality of the offer.’
Meltemi, supplier of uniforms to the School, kindly hosted the prototyping and production process – offering an opportunity for Pandora to gain valuable experience of commercial production processes from professional pattern cutting through to material testing before she graduates.
Judy Fitzgerald, BA Fashion Design and Development programme leader, said: ‘The brief allowed our students to explore broader design led thinking and opportunities to investigate emerging technologies as well as the complex demands of nursing and come up with innovative and practical solutions.’
Pandora Howard-Griffin, the winning student, said: ‘Seeing my uniforms as part of the Westminster Abbey service to honour Florence Nightingale’s legacy was extremely exciting and a rewarding end to the entire process of this project.'
David Bendell, a second year BSc Adult Nursing Studies student from the School, wore the new design at the service and said: ‘The new student nurses’ uniform was designed from the ground up; the end product is a light, bamboo derived antibacterial fabric, ergonomic and aesthetically pleasing uniform. It feels good to wear, is very comfortable and looks stylish. Pandora, the designer, has designed uniforms for both male and female students with plenty of pockets for those everyday nursing and midwifery essentials (scissors, tape, pens etc.) whilst ensuring the uniform is easy to iron with no awkward pleats! The procession along the centre aisle of Westminster Abbey was certainly the ideal way to show off such an exciting project in contemporary uniform design.’