To the smokers I work with, please do yourselves and patients a favor by brushing your teeth after smoking. the smell of smoke makes me gag, and I feel sorry for your already nauseated patients.
To the supervisor that baths in his cologne... don't. it smells horrible.
To the nurse with the huge blond hair. it looks like a bomb was set off in your hair. did you use a whole bottle of stiff on it? and you may want to wear better fitting scrubs, I'm curvy as well, but I don't like to show my curves at work.
Yes, I do like to wear make up and manicured nails( no chipping, or fakes nails) to work everyday. not only does it make me feel good but patients notice as well. looks are first impressions, and I like to make a good one.
I may be wrong, but OnlybyHisGrace seems to have some kind of personal vendetta against someone! I have not known any nurse who smells like they bath in cologne. Where I work all nurses are required to keep their hair off their collar and are not allowed to have any unnatural hair color. Not everyone wants to wear make up and should not be forced expected to. As for wearing scrubs that do not show your curves - get a life! nurses do not deliberately wear scrubs that are too small. Oh yes, how do you have so much time to spend concerning yourself with how your colleagues present themselves for work everyday? Real nurses spend their time on patient care.
I've worked with many nurses who either bathed in cologne or didn't bath at all, yuck.
I would also say that I have worked/work with nurses who do attempt to dress sexually provocative at work. The whole rolling down the top of the scrub pants until I can tell that you shaved today is not abnormal. As a man I do not complain about this new fashion trend but as a professional it really brings down the image of the whole profession. The presentation that our cohorts and our facilities make is extremely important in maintaining the patient to nurse relationship. Our profession enjoys a certain level of inherent trust that many professions, including physicians, do not. Let's not naively think that the trust fostered between the nurse and patient is solely due to the tasks we perform at bedside.
I agree with the idea behind the original post and the sentiments expressed by the other posters. I think the bottom line is to remember that as nurses, we have people's lives in our hands, so the way we present ourselves should inspire confidence. As a patient, I want to be confident that the nurses in charge of my care know what they're doing and are professionals. Body odor, wrinkled clothes, crazy hair, and other things of that nature don't inspire confidence. I don't, however, think everyone needs to wear makeup. I'm a mascara only girl myself :-)
Yes, nursing is a tiring job if not managed. and people have outside lives.. women and men we should take the time to care for our outside appearance as well. yes, we have flaws but we need to notice our own flaws on the inside. some of us do but i believe it is proper care to be well groomed, smelling good, nails short, fresh breath, and kindness to the patiens. to please people clean it up lol... it is proper to take care of our personal hygiene...
Proper hygiene is essential, no I don't want to smell like anyone else's fragrance or smoke...BUT...I might have some trouble with hiding the curves....I have trouble hiding these curves in a caftan :-)
Proper hygiene is essential, no I don't want to smell like anyone else's fragrance or smoke...BUT...I might have some trouble with hiding the curves....I have trouble hiding these curves in a caftan :-)
ok asystole rn of course, i agree that the tasks we perform at bedside are not the only thing that matters, however, the number of nurses who have issues with bo, crazy hair, nails etc are definitely a minority. i am very surprised by the comment 'the whole rolling down the top of the scrub pants until i can tell that you shaved today is not abnormal'. i have been an or nurse for almost 20 years and have never seen this. maybe i am lucky, but all my colleagues behave and present themselves very professionally, where i work anything else would not be tolerated by management.
I am a hospice nurse, work 8-5 daily. 2 days a month I am on overnight call.
When I jump out of bed at midnight because my pager is going off, and someone is having severe dyspnea, my LAST thought is "hmmm...do I look presentable?" Doubt anyone cares. Seriously.
Specializes in OR, Nursing Professional Development.
I work in the OR, and wear hospital provided scrubs- which are never ironed. I don't wear makeup because I spend my day in a mask- hiding my face and rubbing off any makeup put on. So, when it's lunch time and I head down to the cafeteria, in those wrinkled scrubs, and with really bad hat hair that refuses to look nice no matter what I do with it (hats must be removed before leaving the department for infection control purposes), does that make me unprofessional?
Ok Asystole RN of course, I agree that the tasks we perform at bedside are not the only thing that matters, however, the number of nurses who have issues with BO, crazy hair, nails etc are definitely a minority. I am very surprised by the comment 'The whole rolling down the top of the scrub pants until I can tell that you shaved today is not abnormal'. I have been an OR nurse for almost 20 years and have never seen this. Maybe I am lucky, but all my colleagues behave and present themselves very professionally, where I work anything else would not be tolerated by management.
The fact that you have not witnessed this trend could be the fact you are do in fact work in the OR. Unless your OR varies from mine, the nurses wear hospital provided blues. I have noticed that like all nursing professions, the OR has a very unique culture. I must say that the OR tends to be one of the more professional specialties. I suspect this may be due to the value of precision and strict rules (sterile procedure being one of them).
I usually see this in areas staffed with younger nurses such as Med-Surg, L&D, and even home health and in SNFs. My specialty has me traveling the entire hospital on a daily basis so I get to see some "variety." This phenomenon seems to be more associated with night shift as well.
I work in the OR, and wear hospital provided scrubs- which are never ironed. I don't wear makeup because I spend my day in a mask- hiding my face and rubbing off any makeup put on. So, when it's lunch time and I head down to the cafeteria, in those wrinkled scrubs, and with really bad hat hair that refuses to look nice no matter what I do with it (hats must be removed before leaving the department for infection control purposes), does that make me unprofessional?
The lack of makeup would be more associated with professionalism than the application of copious makeup. I know what you mean about the wrinkled blues but there is a noticeable difference between wrinkled blues and the wrinkled scrubs that were left at the end of the bed and/or slept in.
Professionalism is more associated with inoffensive hygiene or "neutral hygiene" rather than the application of positive hygiene. The idea is not to smell good but to not smell at all, the idea is not to look good but to look competent, professional, inoffensive, neutral.
i don't wear makeup because of my religious beliefs.... and my hair is frizzy because well... miami is humid... i try to look presentable as possible but what can i do... =/
Asystole RN
2,352 Posts
I've worked with many nurses who either bathed in cologne or didn't bath at all, yuck.
I would also say that I have worked/work with nurses who do attempt to dress sexually provocative at work. The whole rolling down the top of the scrub pants until I can tell that you shaved today is not abnormal. As a man I do not complain about this new fashion trend but as a professional it really brings down the image of the whole profession. The presentation that our cohorts and our facilities make is extremely important in maintaining the patient to nurse relationship. Our profession enjoys a certain level of inherent trust that many professions, including physicians, do not. Let's not naively think that the trust fostered between the nurse and patient is solely due to the tasks we perform at bedside.
We are professionals, we should ALL act like it.