Weird/ Dumb Nursing School Rules

qaz99 · Mar 26, 2016

Wow, nursing school in the US is weirdly strict. Come study in Australia, flip flops and shorts galore at uni.

Don't understand why a college/uni needs to enforce a dress code. It's college at the end of the day... Clinicals, yes, by all means enforce a professional look.

Jensmom7, BSN, RN · Mar 26, 2016

So I'm a Jr. BSN student and my commute is so brutal that there is NO way I could dress up for class. I take a ferry and a open air taxi to class, then climb a hill to get to lecture. So, ya I wear yoga pants, flip flops and t-shirts any day that I'm not in clinical.

You wear flip-flops to climb a hill?? You must have AWESOME calf muscles, lol.

Anyway, on topic. When I went to school, waaayyyy back in the 70s, our nursing classes (clinical and classroom) started at 8am.

Most of the time no one was awake enough to notice what was worn to class, much less comment on it. Generally, as long as the bits were covered, all was good. And this was at a large private Catholic university.

Clinicals, however, were a different story. White. From head to toe. White cap, hairpins, dress, slip, underwear, nylons and shoes. Yes, we wore uniform dresses-SO practical when wrestling with combative patients...

The two males in my class got to wear white dress shirts and white pants. They looked like Good Humor men. No facial hair, and they didn't have to wear a cap.

Editorial Team / Moderator · Mar 26, 2016

Facial hair on a man's face doesn't dangle down?

Not unless you're nursing with ZZTop! It doesn't dangle down any more than my arm hair does. Which is really not at all.

OrganizedChaos, LVN · Mar 26, 2016

Not unless you're nursing with ZZTop! It doesn't dangle down any more than my arm hair does. Which is really not at all.

Lol. Best comment ever!

MrFutureRN2NP · Mar 26, 2016

I fully agree. Any one who thinks men should shave their faces completely for reasons of "hygeine"- the moderator makes a really great point- why aren't male nurses (or female ones for that matter made to shave their forearms?? Your forearm is more likely to touch a patient than your face! Haha.

I thank the heavens that my school and the hospitals I do clinical in don't care one bit about my beard (which is an inch or less, well kept and clean) honestly I'd look about 16 without it, and IMHO most guys- ESPESCIALLY any such as myself who are even the slightest bit overweight- look better with some color in their face. I shave once a year for my mandatory N95 mask fit test, and always hate when I have to. I'm not of a Jewish, Sikh, or Rastafarian faith, however, similar to some of these spiritual traditions, I actually feel like completely shaving my beard is like amputating a piece of my body. It's an idea that resonates with me inside. It maybe seems strange, but it's a particularly personal belief. I feel so strongly about it, I've decided I won't work anywhere that requires me to be clean shaven. For now I'm grateful that I live in a large westcoast city where having facial hair is very common amongst men of most professions/classes.

elijahvegas, ASN, RN, EMT-P · Mar 29, 2016

I've said it before and I'll say it again, I just can't understand how people can care so so much about what other people are doing/wearing.

The ones that are harping about how nursing is to be "respected" and "held to a higher standard" and all of this self-righteous nonsense I bet are the people that can't wait to brag about being a nurse and what they do. They walk around pounding their chest showing off their rn like it's an S on their chest haha.

Clinical are one thing, hospital setting absolutely when you're in the public eye your uniform is everything. But as far as lecture goes, I really don't look twice at what anyone is saying, or doing. Not one bit. Even at work, if it's not about my patients I don't really care. Wherever I am, I've got a job to do. To learn, to perform. Not to brag about being a nurse, and not to pay any mind to what color hair tie my classmates/coworkers have haha.

One of the most obnoxious rules I think my school had was the all white shoes thing. Our clinical uniform was already all white, which was odd to me considering how much we deal with very colored fluids and substances. But they emphasized that any trace of non-white on the shoes could get you sent home (depending on how much the instructor hated you)

Eventually in lecture though, girls were coming in with pink and black sneakers and whatever else they found cute. I eventually started wearing my chucks for comfort.

OrganizedChaos, LVN · Mar 29, 2016

I've said it before and I'll say it again, I just can't understand how people can care so so much about what other people are doing/wearing.
The ones that are harping about how nursing is to be "respected" and "held to a higher standard" and all of this self-righteous nonsense I bet are the people that can't wait to brag about being a nurse and what they do. They walk around pounding their chest showing off their rn like it's an S on their chest haha.
Clinical are one thing, hospital setting absolutely when you're in the public eye your uniform is everything. But as far as lecture goes, I really don't look twice at what anyone is saying, or doing. Not one bit. Even at work, if it's not about my patients I don't really care. Wherever I am, I've got a job to do. To learn, to perform. Not to brag about being a nurse, and not to pay any mind to what color hair tie my classmates/coworkers have haha.
One of the most obnoxious rules I think my school had was the all white shoes thing. Our clinical uniform was already all white, which was odd to me considering how much we deal with very colored fluids and substances. But they emphasized that any trace of non-white on the shoes could get you sent home (depending on how much the instructor hated you)
Eventually in lecture though, girls were coming in with pink and black sneakers and whatever else they found cute. I eventually started wearing my chucks for comfort.

Just gotta put this out there. If I ever become an RN, after everything I have been through, you bet I will wear it like an 'S' on my chest! I'll be proud as hell every day of my life.