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How nurses' attire affects elderly psychiatric patients' ability to recognise them

Mental Health Services for Older Adults, Queen Elizabeth Psychiatric Hospital, Mindelsohn Way, Birmingham B15 2QZ

^* Correspondence

The ability of elderly patients to identify a nurse wearing a uniform as opposed to mufti was investigated together with the effect of administrator attire on the Abbreviated Mental Test score (AMT). Thirty-six out of 71 patients identified a nurse wearing mufti increasing to 59/71 when wearing uniform (P<0.005). Patients rated by a uniformed nurse had significantly higher mean AMT scores (6.1) than when rated by a nurse in mufti (5.6) (P<0.01), and this also had a significant effect on the sensitivity in predicting an organic diagnosis.