This is my first post here, so apologies if I've picked the wrong forum or otherwise committed a newbie faux pas.
I have been accepted to a BSN program, starting in the fall. I am not religious, but for a variety of reasons I wear a "head covering" whenever I leave my house; personal modesty, style, but mainly because I worked in biomedical research for years, I got used to covering my hair for biosecurity reasons, and just never stopped. Mostly in the civilian world this amounts to a bandana, scarf, or a hat, usually a beat up Stetson. I am aware that the orthodox religious communities are allowed their own options. I've seen bandana and cap-type lids in scrub materials and am an experienced seamstress, so I could certainly buy or make them to match my scrubs. Is this sort of thing allowed? How might I approach the question with supervisors (etc.) so as not to seem like a weirdo or raise any hackles?
And ICUs (at least not the ones I've worked in over the past four decades) are not in any way, shape or form sanitary places.
The hospital we are training at isn't really all that sanitary. I mean, relative to the outside world, yes, but I saw nurses doing things all day long that would most definitely not have passed unnoticed in the biosecure facilities​ I've worked in, even at the lower biosafety levels. Obviously it's not that big a deal in this different context so I'm working on letting go of those concerns!
the thing is, in so many places being a nurse automatically means living by the written word, doesn't matter how absurd it might be. There is a chance that you'll end up in a place where you'll be seen as a human being with your right to wear what you like, on your head or otehrwise, but, honestly, the chance is not that great. Much more possibly, you'll be just told: "we have a policy where it is written "no head coverings of any kind allowed", therefore please remove yours right now or face discipline, and be warned that you can be terminated after two more warnings like that". Nobody will ever heard your arguments about safety, hygiene, etc., - these people do not care for you at all, they care for policy and policy alone. It take nothing less but a superhuman effort to persuade them to change a letter in that Holy Book of Policies, even if it clearly says that 2 x 2 = 5.
Moreover, nurses who persist in their disregard to policies even if they indeed do have rights to do it, face discriminative treatment which is notoriously difficult to fight. I do not think you'll love to be asked 10 times a day if you're Muslim or if you had cancer, or something along those lines. There was a recent topic on this forum about a nurse who was treated badly and disciplined because she preferred to wear headscarf because she was going to marry an Orthodox Jew.
In short: nursing is not an area where you'll be looked positively if you possess some quality which sets you apart. It doesn't matter if the quality may affect anybody positively or negatively, or even if it is a basic human right or not. It is just about you being "not like everyone else", and it won't be tolerated for this very reason. You may like or hate it, but it just is what it is. Middle school pack mentality, all over again. Either you can live with it and be happy without doing anything that puts a stamp of "being different" on you, even so minor as wearing a headscarf, or you better choose some other profession.
I find it bizarre that fake hair, hair and wigs are okay, but a piece of readily washable cloth is "unsanitary". I guess people only touch their head coverings, not their hair? I don't understand how a deeply held personal belief is less important than the beliefs of religious people. Good thing nurses always wash their jackets and other items between patients/shifts. Really it is just a company wanting control over the dress of their employees. Cookie cutter.
Specializes in OR, Nursing Professional Development.
I find it bizarre that fake hair, hair and wigs are okay, but a piece of readily washable cloth is "unsanitary". I guess people only touch their head coverings, not their hair? I don't understand how a deeply held personal belief is less important than the beliefs of religious people. Good thing nurses always wash their jackets and other items between patients/shifts. Really it is just a company wanting control over the dress of their employees. Cookie cutter.
Just because it is readily washable cloth doesn't mean it gets washed. I know for a fact that I worked with many OR people who would wear and rewear their hats for months between washings.
I'm not sure I would see any problem with them as long as they were laundered after every use just like the scrubs we wear. They are infection accruing but so are scrub tops and pants. I think if you are a seamstress then you could make some really interesting caps to match a scrub set if you wanted. But again it would all have to comply with dress codes for each facility and/or university setting.
No thanks. If a scrub cap which can be laundered in hot water and bleach is unsanitary, this strikes me as pretty foul. It's also contrary to my personal feelings about modesty. If showing my breasts makes me uncomfortable, wearing a fake pair of breasts over them doesn't change anything.
I believe the studies that regard laundering...erm...auxiliary accessories and sanitation have to do with inconsistencies and lapses in proper laundering. And, yes, if you are looking for an exception to a particular guideline or rule, you'll have to discuss things that are otherwise personal or uncomfortable to discuss. Usually, nursing school dress codes are not as strictly adhered to as you might think. I was very careful to put my hair in a bun and make sure it was never in my face or falling out of place. But, I saw people who simply put their hair in a ponytail and most of the instructors didn't care. I'm sure a modest hair covering would likely be noticed but, because people are too afraid of offending someone or making them think they are discriminating against them and getting themselves into trouble, it is likely no one will tell you otherwise. They'll just assume it's for religious purposes and leave it at that.
You'll find that many infection control nurses flat out disagree with wearing surgical hats outside of the OR.
I'm not contradicting you, but I'd love to know the rationale. If they are a good idea in a sterile procedure, why would they be a terrible idea when being clean-but-not-sterile? Obviously, if it becomes soiled, it should be changed, but I dare say it would be changed more frequently than my hair itself is changed.
Do you know of a solid rationale for this, or is another "thems the rules" situation?
In the icu, we only wear sterile head coverings for sterile procedures. They are see through and I wouldn't exactly say modest. The only people that wear scrub caps which is what I think you are referring to are OR nurses and they are only to be worn in the OR. They never wear them when say they bring a patient up to my unit.
Can I ask OP since you are not even in nursing school yet, you know your hospital is not all that sanitary? Have you spent time in there to know their policy and procedure to how they clean and sterilize or is it just an older, more run down hospital that isn't pretty looking but in fact may be very clean?
JHACO has very specific rules on being sterile and clean.
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Oregon, My Oregon
12 Posts
The hospital we are training at isn't really all that sanitary. I mean, relative to the outside world, yes, but I saw nurses doing things all day long that would most definitely not have passed unnoticed in the biosecure facilities​ I've worked in, even at the lower biosafety levels. Obviously it's not that big a deal in this different context so I'm working on letting go of those concerns!