If you are a nurse or nursing student, it would be very difficult for you to choose good shoes to go to work, there are so much advice that you’ve heard from friends and partners that you can’t be sure about anything.
At first, we are also confused when doing the research.
Then we see that the quality and style of nursing shoes can be sorted by a few major brands, which has simplified our judges significantly.
In this post, we will give you these 6 nursing shoe brands that offer the best shoes for nurses.
Alegria
Alegria nursing shoes can be easily recognized by their marry jane classic design, with colorful and floral patterns on the upper and a butterfly logo on the midsole. Most of them are flat and slip-on.
While many nurses don’t like Alegria’s style, they still trust the brand’s ability to delivery the support a nurse need during the long hours shift.
Our pick for Alegria
Alegria Paloma Flat
All of Alegrias are very comfortable due to their “secret” Alegria footbed, the foundation of every Alegria shoes.
The footbed is removable and includes 3 layers: Cork, Memory foam and the soft Polyurethane. Alegria also offers an optional wide width insole for people who have wide feet.
The special thing about this footbed is that it molds gradually to the shape of your feet every time you put on. So after a while it will fit your feet perfectly, and become your own personal footbed. Is that amazing?
The outsole of the shoes is also slip-resistant, which is a great feature for nurses. There is only one bad note we’ve seen from Alegria is that they squeak regularly.
Alternative choice
Alegria Classic Clog
If you can’t get our main pick, get a pair of these.
How to make alegria shoes stop squeaking?
Our tip is get yourself a silicone lubricant and spray to the bottom of the shoes (take the insoles out first). This will lubricate the insoles when rubbing with other parts.
Another effective method is putting some baby powder in it. This works pretty well, too.
Now let’s see what nurses say about Alegria.
According to our reresearch, there are 97% of nurses who have tried Alegria say they love it. 24% of that say they like Alegria more than Dansko.
Nursing Youtuber Nicole Rose is also a fan of Alegria, her personal recommendation is the Alegria Debra.
Dansko
It’s been twenty-five years since the day this company was founded by a husband and a wife team. At first, it was just a small shoe store in Europe and then grew up day by day.
Until a time, Danskos are considered the best shoes for nurses to many people.
But not anymore these days, their quality has gone down, they haven’t been able to hold up their position.
Dansko is not the best nursing shoes for quality now, but their brand is very popular, perhaps the biggest one in nursing shoes market, almost every nurse has heard about Dansko once.
Dansko is very well-known for their clogs, below is one of their most successful models.
Our pick for Dansko
Dansko Professional Oiled Leather Clog
Very comfortable shoes with a professional look, they provide great support and padding for your arch, decent price for durability that lasts for years.
Dansko targets their audience directly to the nurses. So basically everything of Dansko nursing shoes is customized particularly for the nurses, from their design to style.
The clog style of Dansko can’t get wrong, it’s a bit traditional but professional, a bit clunky but comfortable and soft inside (though some Danskos are actually not so lightweight).
Dansko shoes are handmade so you should always check the size carefully before buying them, that’s why we always recommend you buy them offline at the store, so you can try and get the right size for your feet. Size is very important so if you want to try Dansko it’s definitely worth your time trying them at the store.
You should also be aware of the shoes varying quality, this is maybe also due to the fact that they are handmade.
It seems that we have talked too much about Dansko’s bad points, but they definitely deserve the good, too.
Dansko bestseller
Dansko Professional Clog
Make sure to try these shoes in the store since their quality is varying.
Their supportive and comfortable footbed will worth your money, the upper is breathable(with odor control technology), easy to clean and fit your feet moderately(one tip when buying clog is left a little space for your heel at the end of the upper). The outsole is slip-resistant, which is essential in medical environment. Finally, their style is a plus point.
Crocs
Initially, Crocs is known for their big “clown” shoes for kids and people who like outdoor activities. But nurses soon realize that these shoes are so comfortable for their feet, that’s when Crocs becomes one of the most popular nursing shoes brands.
The biggest advantage of Crocs is their low price tag. We believe that they are the best budget nursing shoes overall. You can’t find anywhere a cheaper shoe line that is so cheap for such quality and durability.
These shoes are really durable, many people say that their crocs last for years, though they use them regularly for outdoor activities. Look at those shoes and you can not believe their toughness, but they really are!
Crocs footwear is cheap for a reason, it’s because of their prominent technologies.
All Crocs shoes are made of Croslite, this is an exclusive material from the company.
Croslite is scientifically proved to be better at foot padding and shock absorbing than most footwear out there. It is also very lightweight (which is a great feature), waterproof, odor-resistant (antibacterial) and very easy to clean.
There’s even a study from WebMD to prove Crocs’ effectiveness. They have asked different specialists and Crocs wearers, especially the nurses. There’s still controversial opinions but the former president of APMA (American Podiatric Medical Association), Harold Glickman has concluded that Crocs is good for patients with foot problems.
In 2007, some hospitals in UK, US, Canada, Sweden and Austria have actually banned some crocs shoe lines from their
Our pick
Crocs Specialist Vent Clogs
These crocs would be ok if your workplace has safety requirements
uniforms for safety reasons. They believe that the vent holes on the front and side of some Crocs designs, like their classic clog, are unsafe if sharp objects like syringes poke through.
So before buying any crocs for work you should always check uniform standards at your workplace.
Let’s talk about the design of Crocs. To most of us, they are ugly, obviously. However, besides a few ones think they’re cute, there are a lot of crocs fans who really love them because of their utility, rather than the style.
This depends on your own opinions, so just let the topic end here by watching this interesting video.
Cherokee and AnyWear
Cherokee and AnyWear are 2 nursing shoes brands from Strategic Partners. a company specializing in medical and school uniforms, which own Dickies Medical, too.
Because of coming from the same company, they are pretty similar to each other in design as well as experience, so we will talk about them together here.
Every shoe line of Anywear (or Cherokee) is made sure to meet all of the strict requirements in medical uniforms, especially shoes:
- Professional style, for instance solid black and white, leather material..
- Slip-resistant
- Closed and waterproof toe box
When doing research we see that a lot of nurses know about these brands ands most of them are fans, especially of Anywear.
They provide good support, comfort and lightweight. But their outsoles are sometimes not skid enough. These variable qualities are supposed to base on the fact that the shoes are made in China.
Another drawback of Anywear is their poor circulation due to the closed toe design and thick material.
Skechers
Skechers are a familiar brand name among people who love sneakers and atheltic shoes. They are famous with their Memory Foam Technology for the insoles on most of their products.
This incredible technology for the insoles makes walking on Skechers so comfortable.
Skechers are probably the best athletic shoes for nurses because they have outstanding advantages such as comfort, support, safety and lightweight.
Skechers is also well-known for their best slip-resistant shoes, their technology for the outsole is incredible, which helps you gain the safety at work.
Our pick
Skechers Performance Go Walk 3 Fitknit
The Go Walk 3 is an upgraded version of the famous shoe line of Skechers – the Go Walks. They has all of the superb features of the two previous version but even better with 2 major change in technologies: Goga mat insoles and Go Pillars.
The Goga mat insoles are like a yoga mat when stepped on, as Skechers describes, but it is not something that too fancy to us, its core is basically the famous Memory Foam. But the difference is, according to QVC, the material of this insoles returns the energy back to us when walking, we believe that the Goga mat has this difference from Memory Foam is because of the Go Pillars.
Go Pillars are the small round pods at the bottom of the shoes, which look pretty cool and work as a shock absorption part. The Go pillars are connected directly to the Goga mat, forming a super bouncy couple, gives your feet maximum support and padding.
Besides comfort, another advantage of Go Walk 3 is durability. The shoes are made of Resalyte Cushioning, a Skechers’ special material of the outsoles, extremely flexible and durable.
The shoes are an almost perfect choice for providing support for your feet all day, against the hard floor surfaces and avoid fatigue at the end of the day.
But for some reasons or if you do not like these style, we have another choice for athletic nursing shoes from Skechers:
Alternative choice #1
Skechers Sport Memory Foam
Should our main pick be unavailable or if you prefer this type of style, take a pair of these.
Birkenstock
It’s quite impressive that this company has been established for 200 years. It was founded by a man named Birkenstock in a small village in Germany.
Nowadays, Birkenstock is the largest shoe company in Germany. It is voted the best footwear manufacturer and the best footwear brand in Germany in Schuhkurier Award 2015.
Birkenstock is famous for their sandals, but what really behind their sandals is the footbed.
Their insoles are very comfortable, carefully crafted with high technologies and material like suede leather, jute, foam, cork-latex. The first layer is made of leather which helps to control the moisture and wearer’s sweats. Foam insert and cork footbed are essential parts that generate comfort and do shock absorption. Finally are 2 layers of jute to ensure the durability and stability.
Usually, these shoe insoles are often hard at first, but will soften and get used to you foot over time.