Hair Color + Piercings + Job Search

[granolatrees]

I am IN LOVE with the bright hair color trend. And I'm dying to (no pun intended) to try it out.

I start clinicals next month, so I will wait to see and follow their protocols.

I am wondering, however, what the policies are where you work regarding appearance and/or hair color and piercings such as monroe, labret, tongue, and nose.

I've worked in places who had policies that limited hair color to a very limited range of natural shades. No facial piercings. Hair color obviously does not impact my ability to be a nurse, nor do piercings, but I know it may make some folks (say, the elderly) uncomfortable. And I fully understand a facility's desire to appear professional.

Just wondering what you all have encountered.

BTW, I'm thinking Ariel the Little Mermaid red. ;o) Also, I'm interested in visiting nursing.

[dansamy]

Natural hair colors, no artificial nails or eyelashes, nails trimmed to a very short length, no facial or tongue piercings worn at work. Pretty much Google the Disney look & our policy is pretty much just as strict as that.

Sent from my HTC One X using allnurses.com

[Meriwhen, ASN, BSN, MSN, RN]

No piercings other than earlobe, no wild hair colors, no wild makeup, no fake nails. You may see the odd tattoo here and there but nothing obtrusive (no face tats, no sleeves).

IMO, wait on the Manic Panic. Not only is Ariel-red too much for the workplace, red hair dye is one of the hardest to remove, even in semi-permanent formulas.

[NotMyProblem MSN, ASN, BSN, MSN, LPN, RN]

I once had a job whose policy was that if you were born with it, it is not allowed during normal business hours. As far as piercings, you can have as many piercings as you want, but you canNOT put anymore than two small hoops or studs in each ear at that particular facility. Most others only allow one in each ear. All of your other piercings have to be saved for your day off.

I once told my son, although he had no piercings, if someone who looked as he did came knocking at my door, that person would be greeted by a double barrel. Perception carries a lot of weight in today's world.

[meanmaryjean, DNP, RN]

My daughter works at a huge hospital corp that also outlaws visible tattoos- she has a small geometric on the inside of her wrist and must either wear a bandage or long sleeves over it.

My hospital outlaws non-natural hair colors, fake nails, facial jewelry except earrings as well.

[HouTx, BSN, MSN, EdD]

I realize that the restrictions imposed by healthcare employers may seem unreasonable to the young, hip folks. BUT - unless our patients have absolute confidence/trust in us, our jobs are impossible. The patients don't "know" you, so they put a lot of emphasis on your appearance & the way you act. There has been some research on the effect of physician appearance and patient trust, but we don't have a lot on nurses yet.

[Jenngirl34RN]

Regardless of facility policy, and some in our area are more relaxed than others, my school has very strict appearance rules for clinicals. We are only allowed hair colors that appear in nature (subtle highlights are allowed), long hair must be pinned up so it is above the shoulder and off the face, only one small stud earring per ear is allowed (no other facial piercings), no visible tattoos, minimal makeup, only other jewelry allowed is a plain metal wedding band and an understated watch, and no fake nails or nail polish is permitted.

[JustKeepDriving]

I work for a state hospital and they allow bright hair colors, piercings and visible tattoos. However, I work in forensic psych stabilization units and why anyone would take that risk is beyond me. Just my humble opinion but if it's in one's face... it can be ripped out of one's face. The bright hair to me just screams "TARGET"; it is best to blend in and be as uninteresting as possible.

Before I went to nursing school, I had a ton of facial piercings and my ear lobes were stretched close to an inch. I took out most of the piercings prior to nursing school because when I was a volunteer at the hospital, I noticed that little confused old ladies and men like to grab, and if one of them falls - we'll they'll grab onto anything they can and that could be my face. The other thing is just the hospital environment period - the less holes in the skin for stuff to possibly get into the better.

So there are places where piercings and fun hair color are allowed, I just personally wouldn't do it because of the nature of the work (we're in contact with body fluids, bacteria and other contaminants and the less possible entry points into the body the better). My job specifically because of the patient population. But I'm also really, really cautious... to each their own.

[lmccrn62, MSN, RN]

Regardless of what the policy is it is about being a professional. Older patients in particular find tattoos, piercing a and odd color hair offensive. Dress for success!