Nurses and their....HAIR!!!!

[futurenurseOB]

Today I saw a nurse with PINK hair. It was all over the place with an ink pen in it. She's a pretty good nurse but you can't tell. You can't judge a book by its cover but goodness. She looks a mess. Now me, I'm African American with natural (none relaxed) hair. I always hear crap from administration about my hair, which is usually in two strand twists NEATLY styled. I'm not one to point fingers but WHY aren't they enforcing policy on this woman's hair. I'm confused.

How do you normally wear your hair? When is too much just too much

Finally a nurse...All for my three♡♡♡

[xoemmylouox, ASN, RN]

I have hair that does hit my shoulders. Sometimes I have it up, sometimes I don't. I wouldn't worry too much about the nurse with pink hair. The fact that they nag at you and allow this will make you crazy if you let it. It's like high school. There will always be those who are allowed to bend/break the rules while others get punished for the same thing.

[futurenurseOB]

I understand that but it looked just like a pink and tangled lions mane lol oh well. Long as my appearance is neat I won't focus on hera

Finally a nurse...All for my three♡♡♡

[NotMyProblem MSN, ASN, BSN, MSN, LPN, RN]

I see it all at my job and being that it is a teaching hospital, I would have expected more. However, the policy states no extremes in color, no fake nails, no excessive jewelry, no visible tattoos, etc. it goes on to state that if your hair is a color that you cannot be born with, do not wear it to work. I've seen blacks with royal blue hair and red (like an apple) hair; and I've seen whites with a natural color that fades to orange that fades to black that fades to purple on the ends. And these are RNs! I cannot count the number of male nurses with visible tattoos (I always find myself wondering if they show these as a way to prove that although they are nurses, they are still he-man). Just my thoughts when I see this...no insult intended to anyone as I am already well aware that some may have been in other professions where tattoos were allowed prior to coming into nursing. But policy states these images are supposed to be covered up. If management is not enforcing, employees are not following. Personally, I would be ashamed to come to work looking like that. But I became a nurse during a time of very little leniency.

[jadelpn, LPN, EMT-B]

It is not so much the color--unless you have a dress code, it is the hanging in one's face, onto patients, and the constant sticking it behind one's ears as to not have it in the way. Long hair on our unit has to be worn up, or it is short. We also have a dress code which talks about hair, however, it also talks about a number of other things that are not classically followed. And in talking about these policies, there's no detriment to someone who doesn't follow them--it is not a "fire-able" offense, there's no you have such and so amount of time to change your hair, etc. My pet peeve is blue/green/yellow nail polish, chipped to heck and back that stays on someone's nails for weeks past its prime....looks like a 5 year old who got into the magic markers to do a "manicure". And that is not just a nursing thing. Bottom line, little that can be done when a policy is created and not followed, and has no consequences...

[LadyFree28, BSN, LPN, RN]

Today I saw a nurse with PINK hair. It was all over the place with an ink pen in it. She's a pretty good nurse but you can't tell. You can't judge a book by its cover but goodness. She looks a mess. Now me, I'm African American with natural (none relaxed) hair. I always hear crap from administration about my hair, which is usually in two strand twists NEATLY styled. I'm not one to point fingers but WHY aren't they enforcing policy on this woman's hair. I'm confused.

How do you normally wear your hair? When is too much just too much

Finally a nurse...All for my three♡♡♡

As an AA nurse, I have yet to hear about my hair...ever. I've worn my hair straight, curly and natural as well. I've been a nurse for eight years, and in healthcare for 13. I think it depends on the region as well. I'm in an area where that is not an issue, as long as one looks hygienically sound, you are ok.

The one time I heard about it was a little birdie in PN school told me that two nursing instructors were "concerned" about my hairstyle-which was natural Afro and my hair was burgundy (which I coordinated with my school colors and nursing uniform-I couldn't resist, lol), but my nursing director actually liked it. :)

[BrandonLPN, LPN]

The pinkness of the hair doesn't bother me, I don't really think that's unprofessional. So she's a hipster, so what?

But if it was truly tangled and a hot mess, that's a problem for me. That just bespeaks of poor hygiene.

[TheCommuter, BSN, RN]

How do you normally wear your hair? When is too much just too much

I'm an African-American female and my hair is always pulled back into a bun. I'm 32 years old with lots of gray hair, so I dye my roots a natural black color every 8 weeks or so. My hair is chemically relaxed with a straight perm every 6 to 8 weeks.

[HippyDippyLPN]

I have hair almost to the middle of my back (normal color, in every place I worked you had to have naturally occurring colors) and I put in a neat bun so it doesn't get everywhere.

[Nurse_]

I have my hair in a bun or ponytail most of the time. I rarely untie my hair while at work.

Any ways to minimize the transmission of infection both to my other patients or to myself and family... It's just unsanitary, and a bit unprofessional, to have hair touching the patient or the surroundings. If there's a chance that my hair will touch something, then it's probably best to keep it out of the way.