I teach for a community college. This program is being ran almost like a military school. When I was attending the same college many moons ago, our lab instructor literally got under the bed to see how well we put a bottom flat sheet on the bed and if there were wrinkles underneath the bed.
We were expected to all dress alike, hair off the collar,(no ponytails) one pair of post earrings or none at all, only a wedding ring allowed with no diamond set (so as to not accidentally hurt a resident/patient) , no make-up, no fingernail polish except clear, fingernails trimmed where they could not be seen above the fingers, no perfumes, tattoos hidden, no necklaces, and no going to the store in your uniform after clinicals.
What about your schools? Are/where they the same? Just very curious.
I teach for a community college. This program is being ran almost like a military school. When I was attending the same college many moons ago, our lab instructor literally got under the bed to see how well we put a bottom flat sheet on the bed and if there were wrinkles underneath the bed.
We were expected to all dress alike, hair off the collar,(no ponytails) one pair of post earrings or none at all, only a wedding ring allowed with no diamond set (so as to not accidentally hurt a resident/patient) , no make-up, no fingernail polish except clear, fingernails trimmed where they could not be seen above the fingers, no perfumes, tattoos hidden, no necklaces, and no going to the store in your uniform after clinicals.
What about your schools? Are/where they the same? Just very curious.
Classroom attire was scrubs (any color, style except capri's) shoes, anything except sandles and flip flops, no open toed shoes.
Clinicals:
School issued uniform scrubs
white shoes (no clog-type, had to be closed toe and closed back, no holes in top of shoe)
Hair to be up out of face, away from eyes and off collar (buns, ponytails whatever was ok as long as the hair didn't touch the collar at all and your hair was out of your face)
Tattoos that were visiable to be covered with bandaid, gauze, or makeup. Not tats were to be visiable at all at any time
Makeup was ok as long as it was "tasteful" But who was to say what was tasteful??
Perfume/cologne not to be worn at clinicals
earrings one one pair, had to be a stud, small
jewerly only a plain gold band, watch were allowed. No necklaces, bracelets, other rings etc
Piercings only to have earrings. No other piercings (lip, eyebrow, tongue etc) could have a "ring" in it. The only allowed body part that could have a "ring" was the earLOBES, not the cartilage or the tragus.
Name tag to be on at ALL times. If you didn't have it on you were sent home and were considered absent.
Fingernails no artificial nails of any kind at all, ever, ever..did I mention EVER? Natural nails were to be clean, short (no longer than 1/4 inch long), nailpolish was only allowed if it were a flesh colored polish (light light pink, cream, etc) or a French Manicure. Polish could not be chipped.
I followed each and every rule every day at ever clinical and it would really PO me to see others wearing clogs, dangling earrings, necklaces, heavy perfume, hair hanging down, etc. Nothing was ever said. One day my hair was up per clinical rules but I had bent down to do something and my bun got caught on something which pulled a few chunks out of the bun. My clinical instructor (the one who turned a blind eye to everyone breaking clinical rules) went off on me about my hair touching my collar and being in my face. I tried to explain what happened and that I was just on my way to the bathroom to fix my hair. she put her hand up, rolled her eyes and said FIX THAT RATS NEST NOW! OR GO HOME AND BE MARKED ABSENT! Mind you, as she was yelling at me, the other students in her clincial group were standing there, one with 2 inch acrylic RED nails, two with dangling earings, and one with a bobble type necklace on and one in black workboots!!
For lecture classes, we were told we were adult learners and were expected to act/dress like it.
For labs and clinicals, the dress code sounded alot like yours... except we had a "no thong" provision. And they were insane about shoes. They had to be all white. One student got sent home for wearing a pair of Nikes with a black logo and sole (sp?).
In lecture we wore what we want. (What's the deal with people showing up in pajama bottoms and slippers?)
For clinical, we wore all white scrubs. Shoes were to be all white, non-porous, and NO clogs. Don't think about showing up with colored socks, either. Hair is up and off the collar. The only jewelry allowed is one pair of small post earrings and your wedding band. Fingernails are short and unpolished. You must have on your school patch, your name tag, and your OTHER name tag.
The only thing that bugs me is the hair thing. My hair, in a ponytail, brushes my collar, so it has to go up. It's so thick, I can't get it into a bun without looking totally sloppy. And the headaches from the bun...oouuuchhhh...
So, you had to have your hair cut above the collar? If so, I would definately transfer! :stone
actually we could either cut our hair short, or wear it up in a bun style. We just weren't allowed to have a ponytail. It had to be fastened to the head. The hairclip had to be the same color as our hair. Imagine me trying to find strawberry blonde hair clips LOL.
For some reason, our school was not really anal about hairstyles. Obviously, if you came to clinical with your hair dyed a funky color, there would have been an issue, but I saw plenty of people wearing their hair down and nothing was said. They didn't care either if your ponytail touched your collar.
Uniforms had to be neat, shoes had to be white. I wore open back clogs though and never had a problem. If your shoes were dirty or dingy, some of the more "old school" types would make you clean them.
One pair of earrings was allowed, tasteful jewelry and no facial piercings. (although I had a tongue piercing with a clear bar in it, so they never knew) Tattoos I'm not sure about-I have 4 but they're in hidable spots so it was never an issue and I don't recall a classmate that was covered in them.
Makeup was to be tasteful also(ie no heavy eyeliner, dark eye shadow)and they discouraged heavy scents.
Specializes in Home Health currently, med/surg prev.
My school had rigid dress standards like all those previously mentioned. The only thing I haven't seen mentioned is support hose. Yes, white support hose were mandatory underneath the pants! Our instructors checked. Those things were so uncomfortable. . . like wearing a torture device.
Our hair had to be off the collar -no ponytails. When I started my hair was long, at least halfway down my back. The whole bun/going to prom look just wasn't exciting me so I went and got a cute little hair cut. :chuckle I was much more comfortable.
We were the first class that didn't have to wear hats in clinicals. Of course, we wore them for pinning.
I became so accustomed to my nails being short that I keep them cut now, and I won't even think of acrylic nails!
I teach for a community college. This program is being ran almost like a military school. When I was attending the same college many moons ago, our lab instructor literally got under the bed to see how well we put a bottom flat sheet on the bed and if there were wrinkles underneath the bed.
We were expected to all dress alike, hair off the collar,(no ponytails) one pair of post earrings or none at all, only a wedding ring allowed with no diamond set (so as to not accidentally hurt a resident/patient) , no make-up, no fingernail polish except clear, fingernails trimmed where they could not be seen above the fingers, no perfumes, tattoos hidden, no necklaces, and no going to the store in your uniform after clinicals.
What about your schools? Are/where they the same? Just very curious.
Our program treats us like grown-ups. Maintain a professional appearance and demeanor with good hygiene and tidy grooming.
The only uniform requirement is that we must wear white scrubs... style, cut, and brand are left to our discretion... just have to be professional in appearance.
Your program sounds petty and trivial to me (except the fragrance thing which is completely valid IMO). I'm referring only that aspect of it, though... it may still be a wonderful program... Sadly, mine is not (despite the respectful way that they treat us).
ohmeowzer RN, RN
2,306 Posts
thats how it was when i was in school