How strict was your nursing school?

Corvette Guy · Oct 8, 2005

Hi. I've been an LPN for just about a year now and I'm loving it! I just wanted to know what school was like in other areas. The one I went to was worse than military school. OK maybe not that bad but close to it. We had to be where ever at 6:45am not 6:46am. If you were one minute late you were sent home. (Never applied to me I was always about 30 min early.) Had to have a visible crease in your uniform to prove that you ironed it. You couldn't just take it out of the dryer before it wrinkled. White granny panties. White socks. WTF is that about. Who cares what color your socks were. I can't count the times I got in trouble for wearing socks that were not white. Only one pair of earrings and they had to be studs. Got in trouble for wearing a set in my scond hole. I also got in trouble for piercing my cartilage about a month before graduation. no body jewelry. Got caught with my tongue ring in a couple of times. Your hair had to be of a "natural" color. Makeup, if worn, had to be natural looking. Hair had to be up. It could not touch your collar. I had long hair so I always had to put it in a ponytail and not pull it all the way through. The only ring you could wear was a wedding band. No engagement rings. No necklaces or bracelets. Completely white shoes. I bought a pair of K-Swiss that had a little red shield (logo) on the rubber bottom of the shoe by the toe and one teacher told me I couldn't wear them again. We couldn't wear our stethoscopes around our neck. They had to go in our pocket. No visible tattoos. I have a guard (pt. was an inmate) who spotted my tattoo through my uniform and complained. He must have been looking mighty hard because its in the small of my back. No nail polish. Only 30 min for lunch. By the time we walked all the way to the cafeteria on the other side of the hospital and waited in line it had already been 20 min. We couldn't leave for anything. OH and my "favorite" We couldn't park in the hospital parking lot. We have to park across the street on a crappy gravel pot hole filled "lot" What ever that was about I'll never know. That's just a few off the top of my head. I'd love to hear you stories!

*I had to change the font size of your post.

Some of what you mentioned sounded petty, yet some sounded okay to me for a school environment. Where I work the employees have a nice parking garage, however you better not be running close to late cause it is a long walk. The cafeteria issue you mentioned is not too uncommon, either. I often bring my own lunch, which saves $$$ & time. As far as being one minute late... to be early is to be on time, to be on time is to be late, and to be late is unexcusable [not always, but you get the idea]. The prison guard that complained about your tattoo was probably worried about the possible reaction of his prisoner [your patient], if you get my drift. However, if your tattoo is in the lower midline of your back I'd question his manners for admitting looking in the first place. :uhoh21:

I went to USMC Boot Camp in 1980, so your nursing program in regard to discipline sounds okay to me. BTW, I don't remember my ADN program [Class of '98] being as tight as yours, yet like I said those kind of discipline rules don't bother me too much... as long as the instructors abide by the same.

Marie_LPN, RN, LPN, RN · Oct 8, 2005

Edited for Length.

We had to be where ever at 6:45am not 6:46am. If you were one minute late you were sent home.
Had to have a visible crease in your uniform to prove that you ironed it. You couldn't just take it out of the dryer before it wrinkled.
White granny panties.
White socks.

This is typical.

Only one pair of earrings and they had to be studs.

We weren't allowed any earrings, no big deal to me.

no body jewelry.

Thank god.

Your hair had to be of a "natural" color.
Makeup, if worn, had to be natural looking.
Hair had to be up. It could not touch your collar.
The only ring you could wear was a wedding band. No engagement rings.
No necklaces or bracelets.

In other words, no flash, no flare, and this is normal as well. An engagement ring can scratch somone, not to mention someone in my class lost theirs (even THOUGH there was a rule against it, yet apparently she thought she was the exception to it) and tried to blame the school. Wearing a necklace, you might as well put a rope around your neck, because an aggressive pt. might use it for that. Bracelets can get dirty with god only knows what.

Completely white shoes.

Typical

We couldn't wear our stethoscopes around our neck. They had to go in our pocket.

Again, a stethoscope can turn into a rope for an agressive pt.

No visible tattoos.
No nail polish.

Typical

Only 30 min for lunch.

You're lucky to even get a lunch as a nurse. I haven't gotten more than 5 minutes for lunch in 4 weeks, and the only reason for that is so my blood sugar doesn't drop and i won't get dehydrated.

We couldn't park in the hospital parking lot.

I now park 4 blocks in a gravel lot from my employer and walk those 4 blocks. My supervisor parks right beside of my car.

In other words, they want you to look professional and follow the rules to the letter, and you were caught breaking a few, so it means that the school is strict? I only wish employers and schools could be this consistant in their enforcement of some of the rules. Some of them are way too lax. :rolleyes:

graysonret · Oct 8, 2005

Sounds exactly like my school in Washington, D.C.. After 2 months of classroom, 3 days a week was spent in clinicals. Tuesday evening (and all night sometimes) was spent doing care plans, med info and diagnosis info (on index cards) for the patients you had Wednesday morning. Better have a clean, neat uniform too! :).

anxious · Oct 8, 2005

may i ask what school piercednurse and greysonret went to?

I had to withdraw from my program because of the lack of rules.

Teachers were no less than 30 min. late everyday if they showed up at all.

Clinicals were non existent supposedly 3 days a week. No lab time either.

I was learning from the book only, no pt. contact.

I would feel a whole lot more confident in my learning experience if it was more like yours.

Please read my thread in LPN / LVN corner

MereSanity · Oct 8, 2005

Yep, ours is just as strict. I think that a lot of people need that structure (as they are irresponsible). If we miss more than 2 days a rotation we are out of the program (NO excuses, not even death or injury). You are lucky you get to wear socks though. We MUST wear nylons (hate nylons). I do see the logic in most of the rules but sometimes it's just too much.

z's playa · Oct 8, 2005

*I had to change the font size of your post.
Some of what you mentioned sounded petty, yet some sounded okay to me for a school environment. Where I work the employees have a nice parking garage, however you better not be running close to late cause it is a long walk. The cafeteria issue you mentioned is not too uncommon, either. I often bring my own lunch, which saves $$$ & time. As far as being one minute late... to be early is to be on time, to be on time is to be late, and to be late is unexcusable [not always, but you get the idea]. The prison guard that complained about your tattoo was probably worried about the possible reaction of his prisoner [your patient], if you get my drift. However, if your tattoo is in the lower midline of your back I'd question his manners for admitting looking in the first place. :uhoh21:
I went to USMC Boot Camp in 1980, so your nursing program in regard to discipline sounds okay to me. BTW, I don't remember my ADN program [Class of '98] being as tight as yours, yet like I said those kind of discipline rules don't bother me too much... as long as the instructors abide by the same.

How did you do that? Change the font size. I got a major headahe reading it. I gave up half way through.

Z

lisamc1RN, LPN · Oct 8, 2005

Our school isn't quite as strict, but they do have rules very similar to yours and they do enforce them. I walk across a great distance to get to the hospital, too. :)

truern · Oct 8, 2005

Sounds like the same rules I abide by :)

I think they have to make the rules strict because there's always *somebody* that will push them to the limit.

graysonret · Oct 8, 2005

School I went to was the "Hannah Harrison Career School" in Wash., D.C.. Since I've been there, it has moved downtown and now is the Harrison Center for Career Education. I had one instructor that was like a Marine Corps. DI. Every student didn't like her. But, you know, over the years, I've learned that what she taught me was the best education. I'd like to meet her again today and shake her hand with "thanks". Her "by the book" nursing has helped me many times, in shaky situations.

MamaTheNurse, BSN, RN · Oct 8, 2005

I went to 2 different nursing schools - at the first, we had to wear all white shoes - no colour at all, like the OP - we weren't allowed to wear our uniforms (which were these awful white smock tops with navy pants or skirt) to clinical - we had to get there in time to change and then had to change back before we left (we have students from that school at my hospital - now, they wear navy scrubs and as far as I can tell, wear them to the hospital)

the second school was a private religious college and we weren't allowed to wear jewellery, period - class, clinical, wherever - also, we had to have our hair up and one of my blond classmates got in trouble because her scrunchie was blue (to match her uniform) as opposed to a colour that matched her hair so it would not be distracting..........oh, those were the days..... :lol2: :lol2: :lol2:

mstigerlily · Oct 8, 2005

Ours was similar. Only could miss the equivalent of one week of school and still graduate no matter what (sickness, injury, death in family, etc) which was two classes, one clinical, one lab. Anymore and that was it for you - no exceptions.

Had to wear the white uniform, no panty lines, no thongs sticking out or leopard panties shining through the white. Hair up, back all the time. No jewelry other than small ear studs and wedding bands. No piercings. No visible tattoes. Uniforms and shoes must be clean (not pressed but I'm sure if they looked really bad they would have said something). Only clear or light pink nail polish and makeup had to be "natural".

I never had a problem with it. It's still how I dress to work as an RN now, only I wear scrubs instead of white!

Melissa

Hi. I've been an LPN for just about a year now and I'm loving it! I just wanted to know what school was like in other areas. The one I went to was worse than military school. OK maybe not that bad but close to it. We had to be where ever at 6:45am not 6:46am. If you were one minute late you were sent home. (Never applied to me I was always about 30 min early.) Had to have a visible crease in your uniform to prove that you ironed it. You couldn't just take it out of the dryer before it wrinkled. White granny panties. White socks. WTF is that about. Who cares what color your socks were. I can't count the times I got in trouble for wearing socks that were not white. Only one pair of earrings and they had to be studs. Got in trouble for wearing a set in my scond hole. I also got in trouble for piercing my cartilage about a month before graduation. no body jewelry. Got caught with my tongue ring in a couple of times. Your hair had to be of a "natural" color. Makeup, if worn, had to be natural looking. Hair had to be up. It could not touch your collar. I had long hair so I always had to put it in a ponytail and not pull it all the way through. The only ring you could wear was a wedding band. No engagement rings. No necklaces or bracelets. Completely white shoes. I bought a pair of K-Swiss that had a little red shield (logo) on the rubber bottom of the shoe by the toe and one teacher told me I couldn't wear them again. We couldn't wear our stethoscopes around our neck. They had to go in our pocket. No visible tattoos. I have a guard (pt. was an inmate) who spotted my tattoo through my uniform and complained. He must have been looking mighty hard because its in the small of my back. No nail polish. Only 30 min for lunch. By the time we walked all the way to the cafeteria on the other side of the hospital and waited in line it had already been 20 min. We couldn't leave for anything. OH and my "favorite" We couldn't park in the hospital parking lot. We have to park across the street on a crappy gravel pot hole filled "lot" What ever that was about I'll never know. That's just a few off the top of my head. I'd love to hear you stories!