not looking "put together"

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I have been guilty of this as well.......occasionally

Do most nurses have trouble looking "put together" at work?-hair out of their eyes, 'fuzzy' eyebrows-the list goes on.

I think I have co-workers that truly try to look their worst at work-rumpled scrubs, etc.

Do you see the same thing?

Specializes in Med/Surg.

LOL...I was walking down the hall one day and another nurse walked up behind me and pulled a clump of dog fur from my scrub pants. I so didn't know it was there. It had nothing to do with my looking "put together". You can just walk through the house sometimes and get a clump of dog fur on you. They're like little tumbleweeds....

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I used to wear makeup all the time. Then in a past life I worked in a non-climate controlled job. I'd sweat it all off so fast that I looked worse than if I'd put none on at all. Then I realized something...

Rarely wearing makeup means when I do, I get compliments on looking nice.

If you always wear makeup, then wake up late one day, everyone asks if you're ok, are you sick?

It's all about lowering expectations! :)

I've found though, if I have to go somewhere after work that I'd like to look a bit extra nice, and so I put on makeup in the morning (as it's easier to touch up than to do it all in the hospital bathroom), I'll end up with a bunch of patients on airborne or droplet precautions. :cool:

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I started a thread very similar to this a few weeks ago, I just wanted to know how women continue to feel feminine while working as a nurse, whether it's having your eyebrows waxed, or just wearing matching underwear and bra sets. The comments on my thread got pretty heated, and mean and some had to be deleted. So in short I say whatever makes you feel put together is what you go for. Everyone is not going to feel the same as you about this topic. I don't think looking fresh and clean takes away from your professionalism. So just do what makes you happy.

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Specializes in Med/Surg.

I do my best to look put together. Yes, I'm a make up wearer, always have been. The time or two I've gone to work without it, I was asked, ALL DAY LONG...."are you feeling ok?" OK then, make up required!!

Now, here's my take on the "fuzzy eyebrow" thing. Yes, I wax my eyebrows, because they grow everywhere (one look at my brother's, and I know how mine would look if I didn't....not pretty, but anyway). However, sometimes people sleep on their faces, and therefore half their eyebrows, or ONE eyebrow, is standing straight up or in a totally different direction than the other one, and that is NOT a good look. You don't have to wax them if you don't like, but if they're long/full, GROOM them. A spritz of hairspray on a comb can do WONDERS and stay all day (as sometimes even a shower and washing your face won't put them back where they belong). I've gotten up some days, eventually looked in the mirror, and went "oh, holy crap!" when I realized I must have slept on my side and had half my eyebrows standing straight up, LOL.

That was my interpretation of "fuzzy eyebrows," but carry on.

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Specializes in Hospital, leadership.

I didn't think Wooh's comment was inappropriate at all. I feel the same way. Most of my coworkers are older than me and look very put together when they come to work, new figure flattering uniforms and Danskos, makeup, strong perfume, hair done, jewelry. Some of them are great workers, some of them are not. I know I am one of the best at work. I rush to work after picking my kids up from school and preparing their dinner. I am clean and neat, on time and competent. I have not bought a new uniform in two years and I know it's time for a new pair of shoes. I absolutely do not wear perfume or jewelry to work. I see those nurses and think, "boy, they look great. Hope they don't get dirty or work up a sweat." I like to look great when I'm not at work. I don't have the time to really get ready for work. If you have time to primp and iron for work, good for you.

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Specializes in pulm/cardiology pcu, surgical onc.

I work noc shift and always take a shower before work. It refreshes me and tames the fuzzy eyebrows. I am a face sleeper and sometimes will wake up in the same position from 8 hrs earlier. Not a pretty sight! I'm very OCD about stray hairs on my person-whether it be mine or my black lab's or cat and after 2 years I finally have the perfect routine to getting ready with a 3m clothes roller ready on the way out the door.

I do work with some nurses that look like they just rolled out of bed with messy long hair that they just pull back into a pony. I used to do my hair that way but took the plunge and went with a feminine/(sexy) A -line, and get nothing but compliments.

And like another post stated earlier about lowering the expectations-yes I've also been in this camp for some time now. For those women who used to do those glamour touch photos for their men- what were they thinking?

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Most of my coworkers are older than me and look very put together when they come to work, new figure flattering uniforms and Danskos, makeup, strong perfume, hair done, jewelry.

i'm sorry, but that's just nuts (perfume, jewelry, hair done).

when i go to work, i want to look clean BUT also look like i'm not afraid of anything that comes my way.

looking "put together" doesn't have to mean primping and prettying oneself.

rather, i prefer to exude the polished and professional look- ready to face another day where i'm prepared to get down and dirty.:)

polished and professional, entails hair brushed and off the face, uniform clean/non-wrinkled, and a face that doesn't scare away anyone that has to look at it.

bottom line, i don't want to appear that i've neglected myself in any way.

self-neglect can send a message that you won't care (as much) about your pts either.

but as we've seen, "put together" means many things to many people.

leslie

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Specializes in pulm/cardiology pcu, surgical onc.

Originally Posted by bestallaround

"Most of my coworkers are older than me and look very put together when they come to work, new figure flattering uniforms and Danskos, makeup, strong perfume, hair done, jewelry."

Clearly any nurse that wears strong perfume is way too self absorbed too realize that it does not have a place in a healthcare setting where patients can have extreme allergies.

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I do my best to look put together. Yes, I'm a make up wearer, always have been. The time or two I've gone to work without it, I was asked, ALL DAY LONG...."are you feeling ok?" OK then, make up required!!

Now, here's my take on the "fuzzy eyebrow" thing. Yes, I wax my eyebrows, because they grow everywhere (one look at my brother's, and I know how mine would look if I didn't....not pretty, but anyway). However, sometimes people sleep on their faces, and therefore half their eyebrows, or ONE eyebrow, is standing straight up or in a totally different direction than the other one, and that is NOT a good look. You don't have to wax them if you don't like, but if they're long/full, GROOM them. A spritz of hairspray on a comb can do WONDERS and stay all day (as sometimes even a shower and washing your face won't put them back where they belong). I've gotten up some days, eventually looked in the mirror, and went "oh, holy crap!" when I realized I must have slept on my side and had half my eyebrows standing straight up, LOL.

That was my interpretation of "fuzzy eyebrows," but carry on.

I agree--grooming---I have 2 brothers and see what could be if grooming was not done by me (not pretty)

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Originally Posted by bestallaround

"Most of my coworkers are older than me and look very put together when they come to work, new figure flattering uniforms and Danskos, makeup, strong perfume, hair done, jewelry."

Clearly any nurse that wears strong perfume is way too self absorbed too realize that it does not have a place in a healthcare setting where patients can have extreme allergies.

I do the first part but not strong perfume ( we have a policy against it anyway), hair done (yes, if it means off the face), jewelry (I had a co-worker in the past that had a ring for every thumb and finger.ugh).

scrubs(plain old surgi-type) and Danskos(been a fav for the past 10 years)-so comfy!!

makeup-I'm so pale-people think I need to be admitted if I don't wear a little :)

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Specializes in Med/Surg.
I agree--grooming---I have 2 brothers and see what could be if grooming was not done by me (not pretty)

I've been eyebrow waxing since I was 15 and had to take the city bus to the salon (on the upside, I can now do it myself with ease and for pennies)....seeing pics from before that make me CRINGE. My eyebrows, if left to their own devices, are the same thickness from one end to the other and are the width of my finger. I also have many hairs that grow below, above, and at the sides. My siblings and I all have similar features (in fact, sis and I are twins and do indeed have the same brows, too) so seeing my bro's tells me EXACTLY why I have to take care of them. It would affect my overall appearance very negatively to not groom them properly. I have dark hair and fair skin, not something I can hide!

Sorry to go a little off topic, but it bothers me when people come down on others who place SOME kind of importance on their appearance. It doesn't automatically mean you're vain to want to put the best possible foot forward in the looks department.

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Hell, I don't even own an iron.

I pulled out the iron once when my children were in elementary school. I hardly ever used it, but my husband wore a suit every day to work at that point in his career, and would iron his clothes routinely.

When I plugged it in, both the girls scolded me soundly. "MAMA! That's PAPA'S iron! Are you supposed to be using it?!"

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