Clinical Hair

[VampsGal2009]

Hey everyone, I am currently new to allnurses.com and am also a new student enrolled at Dallas Nursing Institute. I start school in three days and am unbelievably stressed about the hair code for our school. The booklet just says "up and off the collar". I have extremely thick hair down to the middle of my back and it is virtually impossible to do anything with my hair other than place it in a ponytail. Even a high ponytail will eventually droop lower and lower because of how heavy and thick my hair is. I have an intense passion for nursing and medicine in general. Going to nursing school means everything to me, and I would hate for my years of schooling to be filled with horrible memories because of hair disputes. Would you consider a ponytail to be "up and off the collar" if the ponytail is still under the collar? Do they just want my hair out of the way of the patient and off my face? If you could please offer your advise, it would be greatly appreciated. Remember I have extremely thick, long hair. I could place my hair into a bun, but the only problem is that in order for me to do it and look professional, I'd have to curl my entire hair before hand (which takes 2 hours to do) and then pull it into a bun. Seems like a lot of extra work considering I start school at 5am sometimes.

[ApostolicGirl]

I don't understand how you have to curl your hair to get it into a bun.

I recently cut my hair off, but before I did it was past my tailbone, and thick. I put it in a ponytail, then twisted and wrapped the ponytail into a bun, Then used another hair tie to hold that all up, then just bobby-pinned as needed to make sure it stayed. Does that make sense? LOL... I wasn't sure how to describe it. But I never had a problem getting it to stay up and I don't use curling irons on my hair- too damaging for me.

EDIT: Nevermind, I saw where you explained why you prefer to curl it first!

[Pneumothorax, BSN, RN]

haircut?

[LeighaChristineSN]

Our school is not that picky and a pony tail has always been just fine. It just has to be out of our faces and not getting into things.

[AOx1]

I have extremely thick hair. A ponytail or bun used to cause an instant headache. I had my hair thinned and now make a quick bun with a hair stick or Goody spin pins. Both work great!

[sandi1743]

i have long thick hair and i plait it before going to clinical. i then take the hair that would hang down my back and pin it up so that it is out of the way. that way it stay out of my way and does risk contaminating patients. (i think of long hair hanging around as bad as ties in the clinical setting.)

[sandi1743]

I have extremely thick hair as well, a little past my shoulders. I understand how it can downright hurt to have that much hair up in a bun, and a pain to keep it there. Depending on your personal style, you may be able to pull off what I call my "piggy-buns". I part my hair slightly off-center towards the front, bringing more towards the midline as I get further back. Then I bring my hair down behind my ears and secure them into two small messy buns. The key is to place them low and midway between your ears and the center part. This keeps you from looking five years old, LOL. Then you secure each messy bun along the edges with pins to make it neater and stable. Twist and pin any bangs or tendrils back cutely, and voila! Super-cute, easy hair that stays put. Once you get the hang of it, it takes about ten minutes tops.

i do something simlar - were i do a bunch of small buns (prob about 20) right out of the shower - we call the ZuZu curls in my family. when i finally take them out m hairs is in lovely spiral curls.

[XKMX]

I'm thinking that you haven't learned the gazillion and one different ways to put hair up into a bun. I have curly hair that is pretty long and moderately thick, and I usually brush mine out and apply oil to it to straighten it out before bunning it.

This is what my hair looks like on its own:

This is what my hair looks like when brushed and oiled:

And this is what my hair looked like about sixty seconds after the previous photo:

My recommendation is to watch some YouTube tutorials on different types of buns, and learn how to use hairsticks and/or Spin Pins. Once you get the hang of it, I think you'll find that you CAN make it work for your hair.

It never ceases to amaze me that people think you have to butcher your hair to make it reasonable to work with. Long hair is easier than short hair, IMO!

I can go from bedhead to hospital-approved hair in under five minutes if I want a smooth bun, or under 20 seconds if smoothness doesn't matter. No blow-dryers, curling irons, flat irons, mousse, or hairspray needed. I'm thinking that not too many with shorter hair can say the same thing.

Beautiful hair! Figures two LHC'ers/nursing students would end up on this thread. I second goody spin pins, they're the only thing that hold my hair up!