LPN school rules

infullbloom1 · May 18, 2005

Hiya,
I was wondering what kind of rules they have in LPN school, mainly pertaining to clothing/hair?
I was just curious, after reading several posts about how strict they can be sometimes.
The clothing part doesn't bother me (very conservative dresser anyway), but the hair part does. Do they make you wear your hair up/in a ponytail?
My hair is not too long, about 6 inches below my shoulders, but i'm not fond of wearing my hair in a ponytail/or up, but of course I will if it's required.
I know it's silly, was just wondering what to expect :)

It seems like it depends on the school. I haven't heard of a dress code, but you need to wear your hair pulled up at clinicals.

AdobeRN · May 18, 2005

In our school hair is required to be pulled up in a ponytail during clinicals.

Princess74 · May 18, 2005

Hair up, minimal make up, no jewelry other than a wedding band, no fake nails, no natural nails past the finger tip no nail polish, not even clear and no perfume.

You will have a uniform so no need to worry about clothes. You will wear the scrubs the school picks out along with solid white leather (must be leather) tennis shoes.

Every school will vary on the rules but thats probably pretty close to what you can expect.

TINAMARIE28 · May 18, 2005

:) In my school for clinicals we wear all white, no jewelry other than wedding rings and small earrings are ok. My hair is shoulder length, so it does not have to be pulled back, as long as it does not hang in your face. We can wear clear nail polish. Every school is different so you will have to check with your school. Good luck :balloons:

TINAMARIE28 · May 18, 2005

:uhoh21: Forgot something--makeup----nothing has been said about our makeup, as long as we don't show up looking like Tammy Faye :clown: we're ok........ :chuckle

jude11142 · May 19, 2005

we had a good amt of rules when i went to school. yes, we had to have our hair pulled back/up. the only earrings we could wear were studs or small hoops. the only rings allowed was a wedding band. minimal make-up..........absolutely no perfume! even down to the underwear, lol, no thongs, lol....(not something i had to worry about, lol). the rest was basic, ya know, clean uniform, white shoes with no scuff marks,,,,,,,,,,oh yeah, we were reminded to wear deodorant. lol, they said that the previous yr they had several incidents where some students had body odor. then there were the childish rules, lol, no gum chewing, no cheating, no talking during class, raise your hand etc.....that's about it.

jude :melody:

RN4Mommy · May 19, 2005

I'm not sure what all my school expects yet (starting in August) but I know they want *all* white shoes with absolutely no color. They said if they have a little blue heart or the brand of shoe written in a color on the side, you can use white out. :chuckle Can anyone enlighten me as to why they'd be this strict with the white shoes?

CashewLPN, LPN · May 20, 2005

ahh...uniform and hair...

ok, as far as I can tell, the deal is to look clean, neat and professional.... How you look definately comes through on how the patient percieves you to be...

As for the shoes, well.. thats a school thing... and, its hard to find all white comfy s hoes but necessary (even in my current job, I need fully white shoes...)

Now, as for hair and nails.... I think in the scope of the LPN, we tend to do more of the 'grunt' work (dressings, meds, and the assorted stuff of nursing glory)

doing this stuff can be a dirty science... and I can offer one bit of advice-- keep your hair up and out of the range of anything....

Whats anything? I hear you say:

Hands, Diapers, Dressings, Dirt, and the assorted filth of the workplace...

Ponytails are good, bun's are better.... I've had my hair pulled more than once...hard.... Very Hard. That lovely pleasantly demented little old lady can change in an instant and yank your hair. This I learned by experience... now, the hair is up and tight (I have VERY long hair... I keep it tied up at all times!)... I've seen people accidentally dip their hair into dressings and whatnot because its dipped below their shoulders... Which is really, really gross.. Trust me, nursing is Dirty work. (white uniforms, blue collar?)

now, as for nails, what I was taught, and what I preach is to make a fist, and completely close your hand... If you can feel your nails pressing sharply into your palm, its time to cut them. The goal is not to scratch people, and to keep your hands clean at all times (the longer the nails, the more germs they harbor...) Additionally, Fake Acrylic nails have been proven to harbor germs that can be fatal to the elderly and very young... Also-- because you have to wash your hands so often, nail polish and fakes do not last long... And, we all know how bad chipped polish looks. It takes away from your professional look.

Makeup... Some is ok, I look like a corpse without my lip gunk... but, don't go for the diva/tammy faye look... it looks even worse under flurescent lights, and dectracts from the professional appearance we're trying to achieve.

One more thing before I go... Earrings, if you must wear them (some people I know just have to) Go small, and non-dangly... they are a shiny attractant for patients to grab onto... I know a nurses aide who ended up getting one of her lovely gold hoops ripped out of her head quite forcibly... not only is she scarred, but, now cant wear them at all.

Ok... I hope I hit the major points...For all of you entering school, its not meant to frighten you into not going, but just remind you to look after your appearances...For all you veterans, ya'll know what I'm talking about....:)

ok...Signing off

--Cashew

sandiLa · May 22, 2005

Ditto on most everything above, but our school allowed hair down as long as it wasn't touching your collar. If it did you had to put it up. And anyone with all one length bangs had to get it out of their face. I didn't have this problem since I cut my hair off short, you won't have any time to deal with hair or makeup,trust me. LOL I didn't wear makeup again until the night of our pinning. Wasn't any use to put it on when you sweat to death running from one pt.'s room to the next.

Sandy

sweetmom · May 23, 2005

well I just enrolled in a 12 month day program. And we were told we had to keep are hair up above the shoulders....haha and if it was in a pony tail it couldn't swing, and we had to where certain uniforms all white scrubs with like a botton down flap in the front, not to appealing but rules all rules. We also can only miss 12 says the entire time. If we miss clinical days we must pay 200$ to make up that day. And if we miss a testing day it must be made up the following day and an automatic 10% will be taken off your score :angryfire but It all depends on your school the one I will be atending is a Votech and these are there rules

Good Luck :)