Being an ugly nurse

[mofomeat]

Hi folks. My questions in this thread are actually more serious than they'll seem...

We've discussed at length here how awesome it is to be a young, hot nurse. Well, how about if you're old and ugly? The first strike against me is I'm male. The second strike is I'm going to be past 40 by time I finish Nursing school. My hair is thinning a little and I've got a mild case of rosacea. I'm somewhat overweight, but I've also got a condition known as Diastasis Recti which makes it look like I have a beer gut. I never was a cute little kid to start with and never got to be "young and hot" like everyone else. Basically, I'm at tops a step up from your standard Level 4 bridge troll. In real life, if I'm too nice to people or too eager to help them with anything (an innate flaw of my personality) it somehow translates to "creepy" instead of "kind". This disqualifies me from L&D and Ped for sure, but I'm fine with that.

When a classmate of mine tells people he is going into nursing, the responses he gets are usually "*swoon* nothing like a hot male nurse!". When I tell people, I usually get stuff like "You'll be useful for all the heavy lifting and cleaning up".

Surely some of you Studly Guys and Lovely Ladies have had to work alongside someone who looks like they stepped out of the Mos Eisley Cantina scene before (and I don't mean that in the cool way). Even if the ugly nurse is reasonably intelligent, competent, fairly personable with a great sense of humor and doesn't smell bad, would their dodgy appearance make them more prone to:

1) Discipline for mistakes.

2) Lateral violence.

3) Getting a bedpan dumped in their locker

4) Patients being 'creeped out' in the presence of an ugly old man

5) Jealousy from co-workers (see Mos Eisley comment above)

6) Getting hired in the first place

7) ???

I'm not becoming a nurse to go hit on all the hot young female nurses (as my friends seem to believe) so I'm not overly worried about dating prospects. It's a job, it's a career and I'm driven to help people.

The people I work with now love the crap out of me because I'm good at what I do, I'm good at understanding what THEY do, I'm good at getting everyone and everything to work together and I make the work environment fun and enjoyable with humor and good cheer. However, we're all a bunch of computer/Star Wars/Lego/DnD geeks and we don't work with the public a whole helluva lot.

But nobody goes to a hospital to see ugly people, right? Should I just pack it in and join the circus instead?

[llg, PhD, RN]

I agree with what others have posted. Just focus on being clean and neat, not stinky, etc. and you'll be fine. Anyone with any life experience is OK with people who are not movie-star pretty -- as long as they don't smell bad or do disgusting stuff that grosses people out. "Normal" is OK.

[Clovery]

I'd much prefer an ugly nurse, male or female. I'd feel less self-conscious about all my body flaws if I can see that they are not perfect as well. I don't want to tell some hot young guy about my BMs or when I last passed gas. I don't want Barbie taking my weight and seeing my stretch marks. I want a clean, friendly, professional, intelligent nurse. If you're beautiful, you'd better make up for it by being extra nice

[Wrench Party]

As long as you have people skills, don't smell, and are competent at your job, I don't really see what the problem is.

At one clinical rotation I did, I learned the most shortcuts and skills from a short, balding, older CNA who was fantastic

with patients. No one ever commented on his age, bald spot or heft, but true to type, they did love him for his

weightlifting abilities!

[Flare, ASN, BSN]

i don't care if you have a rosacea, three eyes, giant leathery wings or even a tail. If you come to work on time, are hygienic, you do your job, have a great attitude and treat the patients the way you'd want your mom to be treated (assuming you like your mom!) then you are a great nurse - and that's pretty hot! (though i can think of some advantges to a nurse having wings though!)

[KimberlyRN89, BSN, RN]

- This picture used to be my background on my computer. I thought I'd share it with you. Like others have mentioned, it doesn't matter how you look. The only thing that matters is that you are a competent, dedicated & helpful nurse! And oh yeah, don't be so hard on yourself

[Good Morning, Gil]

I'm a petite woman, and I will say, even for me, not smelling by the end of my shift is a feat in and of itself. We do total care, so I work my butt off (as most other hospital nurses do), and so PRN body splash is sometimes necessary lol.

Anyway, best of luck to you! Nobody really cares what you look like, only that you're competent at your job and help your co-workers.

[ShinyRedGloss]

We all have our flaws, but if you are clean and look professionaly dressed, who cares? I don't. I don't think most patients really will as long as they are getting proper care. Half the time I'm visually at my worst when I enter a hospital. Sweats, messy hair, old t-shirt. Once I ended up in the ER in torn pajamas. My point is that the patients come in looking all kinds of crazy and all they want is to have their problem fixed. However, I will say that I know studies have been done on appearance and interviews. Yes, more attractive people score more points, but there won't be many actors applying for the same jobs as you. Secondly, they want an employee that will do their job well and has valuable skills to bring to the team not someone they'd want to date.

Just dress for success in the interview and smile. Holding your head up and smiling is one of the most attractive things in the world because it says I have confidence.

Lastly, if there are things you don't like about your appearance (weight for example) that you can changes. Work on it. It will make you feel better because you know you are living a healthy life style/taking care of yourself. You'll also feel better in your skin and stronger.

[Guest372004]

I am so sorry you feel so bad about your looks. I am sure it is from growing up with comments, etc. The fact is as above have said, being clean, presentable, neat fresh clothes and shoes, clean shaved is what 99% of all patients want. I always wanted to be a nurse from childhood. I did not become one till mid 30's. When I was in my late 20's we were visiting someone in the hospital and the nurse was very beautiful (truthfully I do not remember her) but I remember my mom-in-law saying "she is too pretty to be a nurse". Where do people come up with this? Also, look at how our patients look? Very few are presentable.

[Ruby Vee, BSN]

Well, the OP obviously has a well developed sense of humor -- much more important than looks!

[Creamsoda, ASN, RN]

Wow, your post makes me so sad! Your really beating yourself up! No I could care less about what you look like. If you are great at your job, it will show.

[sauconyrunner]

But nobody goes to a hospital to see ugly people, right? Should I just pack it in and join the circus instead?

People go to the hospital to get help they need. Not to see ugly or pretty people.

The biggest thing is to be neat and clean. I worked with a nurse who did not take care of his teeth, I mean, his front teeth were broken, and visibly rotting...with black spots. This concerned me.

One of my favorite MD's to work with (used to be a nurse) had a rip roaring problem with Eczema. He was short, and tubby, and actually quite married and very popular. He presented himself in a very clean tidy way, and everyone loved him.

Now, as a runner, I'll put in a plug for exercise. It will make you look better and feel better and be able to handle stress better....and for all I know you already adore it, but if not..I wholly recommend it.

Buddy, I do not think the Circus is ready for you...I think you might find that nursing is it...Welcome!

[kima84]

Hey Man,

You want to be a nurse, be a nurse. Don't worrry about what others are thinking when it comes to your looks. Does not matter how attractive or unattractive you are people will always hate on you.

In every profession they have standards of beauty. In nursing I don't think the standards are very high. You just need to be clean, fairly fit(not morbidly obese), and not smell bad.

What I tell people is to practice their smile, demeanor, and their mannerisms in the mirror. It's a vain world out there. Sometimes people don't realize how they come across. Practice your smile in the mirror and see how it looks, etc as well as the other things you may be concerned about.

And make sure you have good teeth. White. And if you are out of shape, get in it. There are ways to combat rosacea and Diastasis Recti. If you want it, you gotta to work for it.

Befit and have good teeth, that's all you need when it comes to looks.