When I was working at a hospital, I used to work with patients on the trach unit. That means those patients had a tracheotomy and had a tube inserted in their necks. They were intubated so they can have a machine breathing for them. Since I always pay attention to any small details, one thing always kept my attention: they could not stand anything coming too close to their throat. That includes the neckline of their gowns. So I used to untie the back of the neck to keep this from happening. They would say they feel that the neckline is choking them. 

This was one of the reasons I decided to work on this next project: The unisex gown. It took me a while to come up with the design. I had a few other medical circumstances I observed that would benefit from the same style gown. Myself as a patient after my hernia repair, I experienced one major discomfort: the lifting of my gown for the doctor to come check my surgical site. I was always bottomless, and he had no other way to access my stomach but to come through that route.  You can imagine how I felt every time especially with 4 male residents tagging along. Thank goodness I was only there 5 days.

A third reason comes to mind. The patients who had open-heart surgery, a pacemaker, or a portal for dialysis put in. Most of the time, these patients are very sensitive to the touch when handling their incisions sites. I figured that it is a good idea to have the latter in sight to avoid hurting them by accident. With a traditional gown, it’s hard to do that because the gown opens in the back only and one just has to be careful. However, with a gown that opens in the front like this unisex design, it is a game changer. It is made with a long scoop neck and has velcros on the sleeves to facilitate IV line. The gowns open in the front with velcros attachment. 

I also considered that style for patients who had bariatric surgery, or any surgery involving the stomach, such as colonostomy, hernia repair, ileostomy etc. This style would be beneficial for them as well as the doctors, nursing staff, and the caregivers because of its easy accessibility. If they only need to check the patient’s chest area, they no longer need to lift the gown all the way up to the patient’s head or going through the sleeves. They don’t need to expose the patient’s lower body to go to the chest and neither is it necessary to expose the chest when they only need the lower part of the body. 

This gown is made also with 100% lightweight cotton, a breathable material that is necessary for the hospital environment. That gown is perfect for co-morbid patients as well. For example, during hygiene or toileting, the nursing assistant would just open the sleeves and the front and have the patient roll from side to side to remove the gown and use the same process to put it on. For a patient who suffered a stroke and is weak or paralyzed on one side, to promote patient’s independence, the velcros in the front made this gown the perfect tool to teach them to use their strong hand to tie or untie their gown. 

This gown is available in Large, extra-large, XX large and also for patients that are over 6 feet tall. I designed that gown with compassion for the patients who feel like they don’t belong when it comes to a properly fitted gown.  I have heard and seen your pain and discomfort. This one is dedicated to you with love!!!