Have dress codes changed for clinical prep?

Nurses Professionalism

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I was at work yesterday and the floor I was on had students there preparing for clinicals today. I was floored!! Two of the students had on leggings and super high platform heels. One had on a low cut shirt with her lab coat. I was thinking to myself is this a hospital or a night club?

And the clinical instructor was there!!!

Our dress code is lab coat, no open toe shoes, ID tags, cover your tattoos/take out piercings if you have them. Or we can wear our uniform. We go to do our prep right before or right after our lecture, the day before clinicals. Most of us are wearing jeans, sneakers, sweaters, t-shirts, etc. The lab coat has to be buttoned up. I always felt a little silly wearing jeans + labcoat... like Doogie Howser. But if we were required to wear dress pants or whatever, I bet we would get mistaken for doctors a lot more often. I'm glad we don't have to wear our uniform because then I'd have to own 3 uniforms instead of 2, or do wash in the middle of the week. I don't think I've ever seen anyone wear anything questionable or seductive.

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Specializes in Cardiology, Cardiothoracic Surgical.

The fact some students can't dress themselves appropriately is still mind boggling to me. A nice T-shirt with no advertisement from Target, some flats, and some simple dress pants are all you really need under a white lab coat.

If I dressed the way the OP described, my CI, the school, and all the other faculty would have heard about it

and chewed me out before I even left the floor, and I would get points docked.

I wish we had a scrubs uniform policy at our school, because clearly some of these girls didn't get the memo that

'tights are not pants'! :arghh:

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Specializes in HH, Peds, Rehab, Clinical.

Yup, business casual here too. Our first BC "event" I wore nice khakis, nice Tshirt and a cardigan sweater with appropriate shoes. Everyone else wore jeans and sweatshirts and gave me crap for dressing up so much. And then our instructor got there. She proceeded to say that SOME of us clearly needed a class on what "business casual" means.

When I had clinicals were could either wear our uniforms with our school lab jacket or business casual. No jeans, no low cut shirts etc. I thought they were inappropriately dressed regardless if it was an actual clinical day or not.
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Specializes in HH, Peds, Rehab, Clinical.

We never did "day before" preps. We came in way earlier in the morning before the shift change for the nurses so we could get our assignments, review their labs, looks up meds, etc. We were not allowed on a clinical site unles the CI was there with us!

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Specializes in ICU.
When is nursing school the real world? I didn't like coming in the day before preparing all night for clinicals but some schools require it. We had to learn all of our meds and procedures the patients were having. Along with all the path of their various diseases. And we had a dress code for our clinical sites.

Not to stray completely off topic...But what is the point of that? I have to know all of my meds, procedures, path of diseases, and labs for my patients too. And you know what? I have time (make time) to know them during the clinical day - because we have to hand off report to our instructor and other classmates at the end of the day and God help you if you don't know the answers to any question asked. Obviously, I understand that if it's a school requirement, it is a school requirement, but I doubt that I will ever understand or believe that there is an actual need to go to the clinical site to get information the night before. I still stand by that this definitely does not teach any time management - in fact, it hinders it.

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Specializes in Trauma.

I'm glad we don't have to do prep the day before clinicals. We were told during nursing school orientation that any clinical site that is within an hours drive of your home is fair game for clinical placement. I thought they were just kidding. I discovered the one hour drive is just guideline. We had several that had to drive over an hour to get to their clinicals.

I'm really surprised the school the OP was referring to does not have a dress code since they are representing their nursing program.

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Specializes in OR, Nursing Professional Development.

Nursing students don't have the expertise that comes with years of working as a nurse. Each patient they work with may have unfamiliar meds and diagnoses. Nurses who work on the same kind of floor for years become familiar with both of those as they work continuously with that population of patients. I work with a lot of drugs in the OR that I bet nurses on the floor may never have had a chance to work with.

We were required to go the night before so that we had time to look up all those meds and the pathophysiology for those diseases before assuming any kind of care for the patient. Our care plans were also due before we left the hospital/LTC/other clinical location for the day, so not collecting info the night before would have made that impossible.

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Not to stray completely off topic...But what is the point of that? I have to know all of my meds, procedures, path of diseases, and labs for my patients too. And you know what? I have time (make time) to know them during the clinical day - because we have to hand off report to our instructor and other classmates at the end of the day and God help you if you don't know the answers to any question asked. Obviously, I understand that if it's a school requirement, it is a school requirement, but I doubt that I will ever understand or believe that there is an actual need to go to the clinical site to get information the night before. I still stand by that this definitely does not teach any time management - in fact, it hinders it.

Hey don't shoot the messenger! When I was in nursing school this is what the program required. I didn't like staying up half the night doing prep for clinicals. It was something that was required and some schools still have this policy which is why I started this thread. I'm glad you don't have to go the day before and stay up half the night doing prep work.

Now that I'm a RN, when I start my shift I go in get my assignment and get report. No prep involved.

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Hey don't shoot the messenger! When I was in nursing school this is what the program required. I didn't like staying up half the night doing prep for clinicals. It was something that was required and some schools still have this policy which is why I started this thread. I'm glad you don't have to go the day before and stay up half the night doing prep work.

Now that I'm a RN, when I start my shift I go in get my assignment and get report. No prep involved.

At my school we are taking 4 pts each and doing everything from meds to assessment, charting, paging md's, dealing with pharmacy ect. There is not one spare moment in our day because as students, our time management sucks. Even if we wanted to attempt to look stuff up during the day we have to turn our prep sheets into the clinical instructor by 6am or we are sent home for being unprepared.

I can't wait until I get my license and a job and can just get report and start the day.

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We were required to wear business casual and our lab coats. The school affiliated with the hospital where I work requires the same. The school I graduated from ended up having to require nursing students to wear graduation cap and gown to the pinning ceremony "because too many students dressed inappropriately." I assume that means too revealing, too formal (as in, the dress you'd wear to prom style), or too informal. I think several schools or the hospitals that host clinicals have started requiring uniforms to be worn because the students don't have a sense for what is appropriate attire.

There are too many who believe a clean pair of jeans is sufficient. And appropriate. And see a "dress code" unnecessary and a nuisance. Clinical directors often have to (and should) give a run down on what is business casual with pictures/examples. Because often, if you are age 30 or under, "dress" has never been an issue for most. Also "dressy" means as if one were going out for the evening.

For my own college age child, who is deep into internships, I lightly (LIGHTLY HAHA) remind that non-denim dress pants are the rule. And a flat, not a sneaker, nor any type of heel that is akin to a music award show/nightclub on a Friday night/a date. If Nikki Minaj or Lady Ga-Ga would think it cute, it is NOT for the professional workplace. Interestingly, kids think that this type of dress is "ugly" and not the current fashion, but don't get that in a professional setting, we do not care.....(but as a Mom I soooo do!! LOL)

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Specializes in Orthopedic, LTC, STR, Med-Surg, Tele.

We were always expected to wear business or business-casual type dress... My one pair of trouser pants got a fair amount of use :rolleyes: It did drive me crazy because we had a couple of people who would show up looking like slobs. What kind of message does it send if you show up with messy hair, ripped jeans, and flipflops? Think about it... maybe you are relaxed? Too relaxed? Not taking things too seriously? Not a good look, IMO.

I am grateful to wear scrubs everyday, however.

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Specializes in Ambulatory care.

in that case the solution is simple. clinical instructor isn't doing her job, she should have immediately sent those 2 students home when they were at the lobby. Whatever the dress code is if its offensive and breaks the dress code of the unit then its inappropriate and not acceptable. Nurse manager at clinical site can call the school to complain and THAT will get results immediately as in clinical instructor will be called in to school to answer why and if needed reprimanded or replaced. My school's dress code was nurse whites with our ugly apron and patch and id, with full nurse gear in pockets.

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