How are nurses supposed to be culturally sensitive if people are not towards them!

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I graduate in may. My nursing program is really strict. We have to wear all white, no piercings, no tattoos, hair up, white shoes, white socks. You know.

I'm all about helping people and nursing and I love it! But I hate that I can't be my own person.

I have been advised that I will not be allowed to keep a nose piercing in if I do it, which I accept. But I also want dreadlocks terribly, and the community that I was raised in would throw a fit if I had them! I fear even suggesting it to my instructors would cause immediate rejection.

Is this discrimination? If I were to have a piercing and dreads at a job interview and were declined, there would be no definitive proof that I was being discriminated against for my hair or facial piercings. I would wait until I established a job, but I don't plan on staying in one place for too long, what happens after that?

And I feel that I must say this, because my uncultured co-students have mentioned that they are dirty and "not even black people can work at a hospital with dreads", I am white, and I would wash my hair more often than I do now to keep the oils of my hair from ruining the dreads. And also, I could pull them back and they would not get in my way.

How am I supposed to be culturally sensitive to my patients if students, staff, and other nurses can't show the same respect to me?

I also want to add that I'm the youngest person ever to complete this nursing program, and they tend to treat me like that and say that I am "immature" "unprofessional" and I will "learn that people don't liked to be judged, but impressions are all that matter". Forgive my naivety, really..

Specializes in M/S-Ortho-Renal-Peri-Op.

While in a nursing program one must "tred ever so softly" if you do not want to make waves...so to speak. I believe that initially the goal is to weed out those that do not fit the "typical steriotype" of a nurse. However....with that said, regardless of the mainstream professions such as sales, banking,marketing and healthcare there is a certain decorum that is expected. Think of it this way.....If you were going in for an interview with no idea of the person interviewing you, perhaps it would be most beneficial to be neutral......they not knowing too much about you or better yet....things that would make them have a pre-concieved opinion about you based on a tatoo or piercing ect.. Once in the working trenches.....some of the censcorship may stop....but not entirely. The image that the patient see's can create comfort and confidence with the nurse or invoke anxiety and apprehension. So..my feeling is this," the patient is the important one....if my tonque is peirced which may reflect a neg. image of me to the pt. than take it out ...and so on. On the other question.... Should we be cognisent of the pts culture????? A resounding yes!! They are there not by choice and it will ultimately benefit you as the nurse to know about their culture as it relates to medical issues.

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Specializes in ED/trauma.

How are dreadlocks and a nose ring "cultural" if you're white? (I assume you're an American Caucasian and neither Jamaican nor Hindu. Please correct me, if I'm wrong.)

Personal preference and style and VERY different from cultural displays of pride and ethnicity -- some of which could still interfere with a work environment.

I am a BIG advocate of personal displays to show "who" you are. I have a nasal septum piercing and multiple tattoos. But, when I'm at work, those do not follow me. When I am at work, I am representing myself as an employee of my hospital. I am not representing myself as myself. My piercings, tattoos, and preferred hair color and style have no place in my hospital.

Ageism aside, this did take me time and experience to realize. When I was younger, I expected others to just accept who I was -- regardless of where I was. I still have that expectation while on my personal time, i.e., when I'm at any public place where my co-workers could possibly see the "real" me. (If they don't like that I have a nose ring or tattoos in public, that's none of their dang business!) But I am very well aware, now, that it is not professional of me to expect my employer to adapt to my personal lifestyle preferences when I am in their workplace. That's just professional reality.

P.S. My septum piercing made waves in nursing school also. I let it slip out once on accident during clinical and was written up with the threat of being kicked out of clinicals if it happened again! That particular nursing instructor informed me that, while it's not against policy for me to wear it during lecture, there are many who won't approve of it. I guess that was her passive-aggressive way of telling me she didn't like it. To save myself some trouble, I eventually made sure to tuck it away while in lectures. Although I wanted to be stubborn at first, I finally realized it was far easier to assimilate while on their time.

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Specializes in ED/trauma.
While in a nursing program one must "tred ever so softly" if you do not want to make waves...so to speak. I believe that initially the goal is to weed out those that do not fit the "typical steriotype" of a nurse. However....with that said, regardless of the mainstream professions such as sales, banking,marketing and healthcare there is a certain decorum that is expected. Think of it this way.....If you were going in for an interview with no idea of the person interviewing you, perhaps it would be most beneficial to be neutral......they not knowing too much about you or better yet....things that would make them have a pre-concieved opinion about you based on a tatoo or piercing ect.. Once in the working trenches.....some of the censcorship may stop....but not entirely. The image that the patient see's can create comfort and confidence with the nurse or invoke anxiety and apprehension. So..my feeling is this," the patient is the important one....if my tonque is peirced which may reflect a neg. image of me to the pt. than take it out ...and so on. On the other question.... Should we be cognisent of the pts culture????? A resounding yes!! They are there not by choice and it will ultimately benefit you as the nurse to know about their culture as it relates to medical issues.

Excellent point about us being there for the patient, not ourselves.

During my hospital orientation, when we were reviewing the dress code, I noticed there was nothing about nail polish (except for the suggestion that it should not be chipped as this creates a nice environment in which organisms can grow). I was so excited because we weren't allowed to wear anything but clear or light pink in nursing school. I asked the instructor, with excitement, "Does this mean I can wear black?!" She said yes, but then continued, "But you might want to think about what your patients will think of it." That stopped me immediately in my tracks and brought me back around to reality...and the first line of this paragraph: We are there for the patient...not ourselves.

If I want to paint my nails black on my days off (in addition to the nose rings, tats, etc.), hooray for me. But what if 90 year old lady X thinks I'm scary and feels discontent with me caring for her simply because of the color of my nail polish? Should I delay my physical assessment with her, so I can explain that I'm truly a "good" person, I just happen to like black nail polish (and piercings and tats, etc.)? I'm pretty sure that would be an absolute waste of time -- and actually a detriment to the entire nursing process.

Just my :twocents:

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Specializes in CCU, SICU, CVSICU, Precepting & Teaching.

i thought this thread was a discussion of cultural differences, and i have a lot to say about why we as americans are asked to respect everyone else's culture but don't get to insist that anyone respect ours even when they're in our country. but it's a discussion of fashion.

i'm curious, though, as to why the original poster made this about cultural sensitivity.

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i thought this thread was a discussion of cultural differences, and i have a lot to say about why we as americans are asked to respect everyone else's culture but don't get to insist that anyone respect ours even when they're in our country. but it's a discussion of fashion.

i'm curious, though, as to why the original poster made this about cultural sensitivity.

i agree.

and employers have the right to determine what looks professional.

i'm a bit biased here . . .my beautiful daughter has colored her gorgeous auburn hair for the last few years . . bleached blonde, black (almost purple), black and white (think cruella deville). she has a nose ring to the side of one nares and a stud to the opposite and lower side of her face. also, tattoos on both her wrists.

it detracts from her natural beauty. she has an old hippie mom who loves the natural look and all the appendages just hide her beauty. i admit to being very sad about her choices.

of course i don't harp on it although she is aware we think she is beautiful without the face jewelry and tattoos.

we love and respect her regardless . . but the truth is you cannot make a fashion choice like this and not have people look, or make judgments.

steph

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Lets be honest here, if dread locks and a nose ring where truly part of your culture you would not need to site here and defend it. We are nurses and need to be culturally sensitive towards the patient's not the other way around. Nursing requires humanistic altruism, and the only image you should be concerned with is being perceived as professional to the patient.

I work with people who have dread locks and no special attention is attracted to them because they behave as a professional should. Nursing schools are to instill discipline, and respect for our patients, co-workers, and supervisors. Why would you want to cause such havoc anyway?

Find your balance.

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Thanx 4 that!

Sincerely.

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Specializes in Critical Care, Education.

Very interesting discussion.

Keep in mind that patient care is not a venue for self expression. Effective patient care is a two-way process which requires trust from both parties. Your colleagues may realize that you are the best dread-wearing, heavily tatooed, nose-pierced nurse around..... but the patient doesn't know you that well. They don't have time to get to know the 'real' you in the course of a brief hospital stay or ED encounter. They know what a nurse is supposed to look like.

Studies have shown that nurses whose appearance meet the patient's expecatations are automatically granted a higher level of trust. Patients perceive the 'real nurse' as more competent than the one who doesn't look like a nurse. This is the main reason that hospitals are beginning to tighten up on dress codes once again... customer satisfaction.

I also agree with previous posters - white folks with dreads is not a 'cultural statement' - it's a trendy fashion wanna be. I was at a conference last week and saw some 'Harijuku (sp?) girls' - Japanese women dressed as anime characters.. very strange. Would that be a cultual statement also - LOL?

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