Threatened dismissal because of wrinkly clothes :0(

angel5 · Sep 23, 2006

I agree. I mean, come on we are adults. We shouldk NOT have top be told our uniform is wrinkled. And as for the post regarding the non use of Deodorant.....IF your hairdresser didn't use deo and she was washing your hair, wouldn't you want her to use some?!?:trout:

firstyearstudent · Sep 23, 2006

Simple (and it's a fitting moniker, I might add), I guess you didn't read my post. I said I bought deordorant and that I was using it.

It's a concession I'm making. But personally I think Americans are overly obsessed with body odors and most of the rest of world would agree. (I don't douch, either, by the way. Is that unprofessional, too?) And I don't choose to smell. My body has an odor that is completely natural. We're animals, not robots. If I had my own way, I would choose not to cover up that light odor with smelly chemicals.

I know exactly how much I smell at any given time and will often rinse off my pits on abusy day if I think it's needed. I don't like deordorant. It stinks and plenty of other people I know think so, too.

My point about the feces was that the overwhelming majority of folks in the hospital have more pressing things on their minds than someone's light body odor. Actually, most of them don't seem to have anything on their minds. They're unconscious.

hotdog19d · Sep 23, 2006

thanks to everyone for their thoughts and opinions!:balloons: i think that i've learned several things from this thread

1. whether it's fair or not, it's their school and i must follow their rules

2. my appearance does in fact, reflect upon my faculty/school

3. downy wrinkle releaser will be my best friend

i'm going to go ahead and iron and hang my clothes in preperation for clinical monday morning.

Marie_LPN, RN, LPN, RN · Sep 23, 2006

BTW, I don't douche either.

TMI

Marie_LPN, RN, LPN, RN · Sep 23, 2006

The instructors/directors should make it very clear at the beginning of the clinical what their expectations are regarding uniforms.

Most schools have a policy on clinical attire and the quality of its appearence.

I never did iron my clinical outfit, though. I took it out of the dryer soon as it was done, and put them on a hanger.

LydiaNN · Sep 23, 2006

TMI

You got that right. Boundaries, people, boundaries!!!!

ldh, BSN, RN · Sep 23, 2006

An adult needs to be warned ahead of time that "he will be spoken to if his uniform is wrinkled"? Should he also be warned not to burp, fart, pick his nose, or scratch his butt while he's doing clinicals?
If I had an instructor/manager EVER speak to me about my personal appearance or hygiene, I would be mortified!
I think we need to encourage some personal responsibility here.
I think what I said here was sort of misinterpreted - I'm not advocating "speaking to a student" because his uniform is wrinkled. I think it's silly. However, what I disagree with is a faculty who doesn't provide any sort of guideline (as silly as it might be) as to what is acceptable attire and then out of the blue threatens to kick a student out of the program for something that he/she wasn't aware of in the first place. I agree - students are adults who are perfectly capable of taking responsibility and should be treated as such.

nurse4theplanet, RN · Sep 23, 2006

My personal opinion...that's the silliest thing I have ever heard! Being THREATENED to be DISMISSED from the entire PROGRAM for wearing wrinkled clothing to clinical? without a warning? and during an orientation day I assume (since you were wearing street clothes)? stupid...NOT how the issue should have been handled, and I am a stickler about looking professional.

But.....what can you REALLY do about it? While in school, you are at their mercy to a certain extent which would include the 'standards of professional attire' as interpreted by their subjective assessment.

So I suggest wrinkle free clothes! They are excellent because I hate ironing and HATE wrinkles. Plus, the dryer thing works well too especially if you throw a damp white t-shirt in and a febreeze dryer sheet.

Good Luck and welcome to Nursing "boot camp"

MySimplePlan · Sep 24, 2006

Simple (and it's a fitting moniker, I might add), I guess you didn't read my post. I said I bought deordorant and that I was using it.
It's a concession I'm making. But personally I think Americans are overly obsessed with body odors and most of the rest of world would agree. (I don't douch, either, by the way. Is that unprofessional, too?) And I don't choose to smell. My body has an odor that is completely natural. We're animals, not robots. If I had my own way, I would choose not to cover up that light odor with smelly chemicals.
I know exactly how much I smell at any given time and will often rinse off my pits on abusy day if I think it's needed. I don't like deordorant. It stinks and plenty of other people I know think so, too.
My point about the feces was that the overwhelming majority of folks in the hospital have more pressing things on their minds than someone's light body odor. Actually, most of them don't seem to have anything on their minds. They're unconscious.

**************************************

Hey firstyearstudent. don't get mad at me because someone else had to tell you that you smelled in a setting where the goal of every square foot is optimal cleanliness. I think it's amusing you try and deflect your shortcomings by personally attacking my screen name. (LOL! I'm not that attached to it.)) You stunk, you got called on it, and you strike back by trying to shock the rest of us with your douching habits.

Good luck on that nursing career.

NaomieRN · Sep 24, 2006

Use corn starch to help get the wrinkle out. You have to do whatever they tell you without question and you will be ok. Good luck to you.

Daytonite, BSN, RN · Sep 24, 2006

With the direction the tone of these posts are going I feel compelled to give you all a piece of advice. I've done a lot of hiring over the years and I can tell you that many nurse recruiters go directly to your schools and instructors for references on you when you go looking for your first jobs out of nursing school. These reference forms (I've seen 'em) have extensive questions on them about your attendance, character AND appearance! I tell people in posts all the time to consider nursing school to be similar to a job. You are constantly being evaluated by ALL your instructors. There is a file kept somewhere in the nursing office on each of you with this kind of information about you that will be used to report to prospective employers. The information in the file is accumulated as you make your way through the nursing program. Don't risk not getting that first job you really want by causing waves, not following rules, or giving your instructors the impression that you are going to make a "poor employee". Those nurse recruiters do look at those references. In one case, the nurse recruiter where I worked picked up the horn and called many of the instructors who she knew. She worked hard to cultivate those connections. It didn't matter to her who a student designated as the instructor to use for a reference. This recruiter was not only looking for the "cream of the crop" graduates, but people who were not going to be employment problems either. The hospital I worked at had very strict attendance and dress policies and they fired people who couldn't follow these rules. Please try to keep this advice in mind before you decide to be a rebel or buck the system.

RNsRWe, ASN, RN · Sep 24, 2006

I'm finding even the existence of this thread strange. I would imagine if my boss felt the need to tell me that my appearance was shabby (sorry if that sounds harsh, but apparently the OP was 'wrinkly' enough to qualify in that instructor's mind) then I would expect repercussions. In an employment situation, after the initial warning, I could expect some type of punishment, as I was warned. In a school setting, the same applies. The OP was NOT dismissed from the program without warning...she (he?) was told that if a student showed up twice looking unkempt, that was one time too many. The warning has been given and like it or not, it needs to be heeded. Doesn't matter if the OP (or anyone else being polled) thinks it was harsh, or too subjective; fact is, the entire experience of nursing school clinicals pretty much fits that description!

As for some other comments thrown in the heap here, I can tell you that my school's dress code was pretty detailed. It listed exactly what kind and quantity of jewelry was allowed, what kind, style, color of shoe was allowed, and yes--it went so far as to describe what our hair, face, and body should look and smell like. Ok, on that last part: it said deodorant was MANDATORY, as was the absence of perfume or scented products. If you considered deodorant "scented" when buying the unscented variety, don't worry about it. The goal was, frankly, to not smell of anything if possible.

I was actually concerned that my person might smell like my laundry products (clean laundry has a great smell to me, but I was afraid it would be considered "perfume"). Was told it was fine: clean smelled good :) What would NOT have been fine would have been a "light body odor" by any stretch of the imagination.

I have often smelled what I would consider to be bad body odor, nothing light about it, but the person who was giving it off obviously had no clue. We're not talking people who live on the street and wander into the office. People who clearly did not know they smelled....very badly that day. So I have a hard time imagining that someone who readily admits to a "light body odor" is in complete understanding of exactly how offensive she may actually be to others nearby. One person's idea of "light" might be another person's "holy cow, I'm gonna keel over dead if I stand here another minute".

JMHO.