Are hair accessories unprofessional?

[silhouettedreams]

Hello nurses! I was hoping to gain your opinion on something. I am a young nurse, who has been in the field for about a year now. I have a bubbly, bright personality. For years now I have been wearing clip in fabric hair flowers daily, in my bangs, and have continued to do so as a nurse. My patients think that it's cute, and I often get compliments from them. I am often called "the nurse with the flower". I continue to wear them, mostly because my patients and their families seem to appreciate it. However, at times coworkers act as though they think this is odd. I am starting at a new facility soon, and I wonder if I should continue wearing my "signature" hair flowers. As a nurse, would you consider it unprofessional to wear hair flowers? Is it silly? I appreciate your opinions.

[Farawyn]

Sooo, you wouldn't mind working with me, if I wore them?

But, you are bald, Homer.

[AlphaM]

But, you are bald, Homer.

I wish! I've tried to be bald but this darn hair grows too fast hahahahahahaha hmmmm haven't tried laser..... Ok making an appointment hahahahahaha

[Lunah, MSN, RN]

My new workplace actually has policies about hair accessories; for example, headbands must be a solid color and no more than an inch wide. Just stay within the boundaries of policy and be yourself. :)

[Farawyn]

I wish! I've tried to be bald but this darn hair grows too fast hahahahahahaha hmmmm haven't tried laser..... Ok making an appointment hahahahahaha

Not talkin' 'bout back hair, bro.

[AlphaM]

Hahahahahahaha[emoji23]

[Nursferatu]

If you got through nursing school, your first year of nursing, and an offer for a new position, you're fine! My guess is that if you are only just now noticing co-workers acting like it's odd, you may be projecting because you are growing out of this look yourself. It doesn't hurt to change up the hair game a little and go with a new look. You're growing as a professional, it's okay to let clients and co-workers know you as the nurse that does great IVs or the nurse that has great time management. Be known for your excellent care rather than your interesting hair!

[vintagemother, BSN, CNA, LVN, RN]

I tend to dress conservatively for work/school. Ironed scrubs, well maintained nursing clogs that I regularly polish, etc. I tend toward more conservative hairstyles for work/clinicals also.

That being said, I purchased 2 hair scrunchies with a single hair flower to use to secure my ponytail-when my ponytail was super short.

I also used a wide variety of plain-ish headbands to secure my hair when I was growing out another hair style a few yrs later. I didn't want fly-aways or sticking out "fuzzies". To me, *that* would have been unprofessional.

I only wore black or brown headbands. But the black one had some "sheen" to it! [emoji3] That was my "fun" one! [emoji6]

[RNdynamic]

Women are supposed to wear their hair down.

[Penelope_Pitstop, BSN, RN]

While I have everyone gathered here, let me say that I am very jealous of a lot of you.

For some reason, my head is shaped in such a way that I can't wear headbands! I love them but I can't wear them. I especially like the fabric ones that go all the way around. They slide off of my head backwards each and every time. And the traditional head bands give me a headache because although I be but little, the size of my head is fierce.

Sorry, as you were.

[Farawyn]

While I have everyone gathered here, let me say that I am very jealous of a lot of you.

For some reason, my head is shaped in such a way that I can't wear headbands! I love them but I can't wear them. I especially like the fabric ones that go all the way around. They slide off of my head backwards each and every time. And the traditional head bands give me a headache because although I be but little, the size of my head is fierce.

Sorry, as you were.

It's your big brain.

[Flare, ASN, BSN]

when i was at the hospital in administration, i had one er nurse that wore a flower clip. I never saw an issue with it. It wasn't garish and seemed to keep her bangs clipped to the side. Yes, i suppose that a bobby pin or plain barette would do the same job, but a small silk flower can be disinfected easily and does add a small spark of joy to a sometimes joyless job. She looed clean, pressed and was in the floor requested scrubs colour otherwise.

This brought back memories of when i was floor nursing and caring for a bed bound patient with c-diff and cleaning him up and a strand of my hair had worked its way out of my ponytail and landed squarely in my task at hand... it would have been nice to have a flower clip that day to avoid that... ewww

[logank622]

Did you wear it to your interview? If so, and they still hired you, then I'd say you're good. If not, maybe you could ask the interviewer if it would be: a) against policy, and b) appropriate for the culture. Personally, it's not my style (given that I'm a 40-ish man with my hair cut very short) but I wouldn't think anything about it as long as it's not garish or an infection/safety risk.

Actually, I like the fact that it gives your patients a way to remember you - I hate when patients have concerns or questions about something they saw or were told but can't remember the nurse's name. In my area, the most we usually get is "the African nurse who worked the other night" which applies to the majority of nurses where I work and pretty much any night the patient has been there.