I received this email from a professor. I was a little shocked. Opinon?

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Greetings. I just received this email from a professor. I was blown away by the content. I found it unprofessional. I wanted to see what other nursings students had to say. Have you received similar emails before?

Hi NUR 150 Students!

First of all, I would like to thank the majority of students who took to heart the need to dress professionally at clinical this week. The faculty of NUR 150 appreciates your dedication to learning and professional behavior.

This email is aimed at the small number of students who were not in uniform at clinical this week. I wanted all students to read this email, because the unprofessional dress and lack of professional behavior reflects badly on all NUR 150 students. I do not want your clinical group referred to as: the nursing students with the one student whose uniform was so wrinkled it looked like they just rolled out of bed”; the nursing students with the one student with tons of earrings in their ear, it sure was not like that when I went to school”; did you see the fake nails, do they not teach infection control at that college, I am not sure about that clinical group doing anything on my patients”; or lastly WOW, what is with the tattoos that student had, I sure do not want them to be a RN on our floor, my patients would be shocked!”

Your first impression is often what you will be judged by for the whole clinical rotation and nursing school career. Being in a clinical group with students who do not follow the dress code and professional policy, does reflect back on you. Every day you wear your uniform you are on a job interview. You represent every nursing student at the college. Your dismissal of the uniform policy and/or professional behavior standards is a direct reflection on every student, faculty member, and alumni of the college.

I know that the uniform policy has been taught and enforced previously. I know students are sometimes counseled in their weekly feedback about how to properly follow the professional standards. I am also very disappointed about the dismissal of the policy, since this was discussed in the NUR 150 course and clinical orientation on Monday. I stated the faculty knows that you are able to effectively follow the professional standards and uniform dress code, since you have completed NUR 121. I clearly stated that student who are not in uniform will be sent home for being unprepared. I fully believed that this would be a non-issue, since you are all adult learners.

Next clinical day at the beginning of your clinical day, you will line up and your professor will inspect your appearance to ensure that you are fully following the dress code. Students who are not in their proper uniform in accordance with the policy will be sent home. This will count as a clinical absence. No exceptions or excuses will be entertained by the faculty. Dress code policy from the ADN program handbook has been added to the end of this email for your convenience.

Again, I would like to apologize the large number of students who were following the uniform policy this week. The college faculty thanks you and is proud of you.

Thank you,

Specializes in PICU.

Interesting how this has gone on for several pages. I have seen some posts that have spoken about the instructor only speaking to the students who have not adhered to dress code. It is possible that this instructor has sent individuals an email, note etc. As always it is very difficult to interpret tone, voice inflection, in an email. Even after re-reading the initial post, it seems the instructor felt that everyone needed to hear a final warning.

Sometimes instructors may hear and see things that not every student has privy too.

Hopefully the OP will come back and post on the results of the future clinicals

What I find shocking is that such an email would even be necessary. Have the attitudes of future nurses changed so much in the 35 years since I started nursing school that discipline and professionalism are no longer part of what a nurse is?...Then, there's the issue with the lack of internet or even PCs back then. We charted with paper and ink and there was only one trip to the Dean's office. No one wanted that.

Some places still use paper and ink. I know because I did two clinical rotations at two sites that still use paper charting. What fun that was O.o

Also, I don't believe it's the attitude of "future nurses" that has changed, it's a general attitude change as a society...and not a change for the better.

Specializes in Hospital Education Coordinator.

I don't see anything wrong with it, as they are approaching all students rather than singling out a few. I think it is long and wordy. But rules are rules. People need to know that. I work in a hospital and have sent STUDENTS home due to improper attire. And I will do it again if needed.

Ummm, it's called an analogy. :D

And sadly a lot of nurses do 'serve'...though they may not WANT to....lol

And think of it this way...without patients, nurses, or any medical professional, wouldn't have jobs. So we do, in fact, "serve" - and patients have a choice depending on what hospitals to go to. Ever been in an ambulance where the EMT's ask you which hospitals you want to go to? I have. and I pick the nicer one, where I see people dressed appropriately and treat me like a customer rather than a patient by calling me "Mr" or "sir". I'm not going to that other one where people dress and act like they couldn't be bothered to wake up for work.

Do you ever see doctors wearing wrinkled or stained lab coats? I've personally never seen that. They've worked hard for that uniform and wear it well. Why shouldn't this line of thinking be carried over to nursing? We work hard to even get into a program; we give up our lives to finish the program and pass NCLEX and find our first jobs. Students and nurses have earned those scrubs and those name badges. Show a little pride. The instructor who sent that email, in all honesty, had every right to send non-compliant students home to change. The fact that he/she sent an email (a rather gentle one IMO) shows that she's really not out to get you. The fact that she sent it to everyone simply means that she's briefing all of you on her expectations for each of you. It's a friendly reminder to everyone. I would consider it a good thing to be fully aware of an instructors expectation's.

Yes, a bit unprofessional; however, at my school the dress code is STRICTLY enforced. If a student even shows up for clinical Inappropriately there is no way my instructor would even let them participate. At my school there would never even be a need for this email because we already know the deal and the instructor would have dealt with the "violators" one on one. We don't get kudos for being in uniform. It's expected. Tattoos? Fake nails? Piercings? Ha! No way. Even our socks have to be white. They even tell us that our hair has to be in "naturally occurring shades" only. Maybe you're school isn't enforcing it as strictly as they think they are.

This is typical. Are those statements very biased and close minded? Yes but you've just got to play the game respect the rules and then you can choose any employer with any perspective you want

I honestly see nothing wrong in the email. I think dressing professionally in clinical settings is a legitimate request, especially as a student. Just the other day my dad told me that he was at the bank and the girl who was cashing his check wore a really revealing top, which made him so uncomfortable that he just stared at the floor while talking to her.

I completely agree with you kdflet. It is an unprofessional, a bit belittling and a bit nasty email. However, on the bright side it is not addressed to you personally. And it seems to be merely a warning for the whole class. And it is for dress code which is something that can easily be adjusted (except the tattoo part). And it is just merely for one class?

"Your first impression is often what you will be judged by for the whole clinical rotation and nursing school career. Being in a clinical group with students who do not follow the dress code and professional policy, does reflect back on you. Every day you wear your uniform you are on a job interview. You represent every nursing student at the college. Your dismissal of the uniform policy and/or professional behavior standards is a direct reflection on every student, faculty member, and alumni of the college." - EVERY STATEMENT WRITTEN IN THIS PARAGRAPH I DISAGREE WITH.

There are first impressions but impressions may alter as you get to know someone. So I do not think you will be judged for your whole nursing student career by your first impression. Secondly, attitude and real virtues are what people usually make their impression on. Does this person look to help me out, do they seem to really genuinely care, are they working hard, are they trying? These are the impressions people notice. Appearance may be one of them but it is one in 100s and not the be all and end all. Also what someone decides to wear is not a direct reflection on everyone in the group. It is a direct reflection on themselves only. We all know people exercise free will. How can one individual be a direct reflection on that whole nursing program?

Overall as a professor or nursing instructor their job is to instill confidence and encouragement on students' choice to become a nurse. If someone is not following policy or not doing what they are supposed to do the tone should be positive reinforcement, enlightening, TEACHING and encouraging. The teacher is the one with knowledge and they should impart it to their students magnanimously and not in a degrading way. The ones who are not dressing properly or whatever need to be set aside and spoken to and educated kindly. For example the one that wears too much jewelery needs to be set aside and explained that his or her earings may present a hazard when taking care of a patient. Or the general look of clean makes a patient feel more comfortable. That is how the professor should approach this matter. Any professor that does not encourage and positively educate people very new to the nursing profession doesn't deserve to be a professor.

"Your first impression is often what you will be judged by for the whole clinical rotation and nursing school career. Being in a clinical group with students who do not follow the dress code and professional policy, does reflect back on you. Every day you wear your uniform you are on a job interview. You represent every nursing student at the college. Your dismissal of the uniform policy and/or professional behavior standards is a direct reflection on every student, faculty member, and alumni of the college." - EVERY STATEMENT WRITTEN IN THIS PARAGRAPH I DISAGREE WITH.

It is not unheard of to be hired by a facility after doing clinical rotations there. Do you think the facility hires the nurse who showed up out of uniform every day? No. The professionalism of a student's dress, disposition, and actions is what makes that student shine. It's a package deal.

Why is it that people in a position of responsibility chastise, reprimand or just remind the whole group in an email or a staff meeting?
Efficiency, mostly. If it's one individual, then I can see addressing it with them... if there are several, I'd opt for a blanket warning... and then hold each and every person responsible from then on.

I would be somewhat offended if I received this email and it did not apply to me.
I don't understand why. Personally, if I received this e-mail and it did not apply to me, I'd promptly ignore it and not give it a second thought.

The instructor needs to be an adult and give the verbal warning to the person who is in violation of the dress code instead of sending an email blast to all of her students.
I don't see the instructor's actions as being juvenile and I think it's appropriate to address the warning to the entire group so as to prevent others from adopting the inappropriate standards that some students already have.
It is not unheard of to be hired by a facility after doing clinical rotations there. Do you think the facility hires the nurse who showed up out of uniform every day? No. The professionalism of a student's dress, disposition, and actions is what makes that student shine. It's a package deal.

I agree. I was hired at the facility I interned with and so was over half my class. I know that one student was not chosen because they had tattoos showing on a clinical day (against hospital policy) and was told if they couldn't even show up appropriate before they were hired, then they certainly wouldn't do it when they were hired.

In a market that is flooded at the moment...I was crossing my t's and dotting my i's. No need to take unnecessary chances.

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