You cant be fashionable for nursing.

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Ok so I was told by my instructor that one cannot be too fashionable in nursing.What she meant by it is that you cant have your hair down (I have a hair that is medium-lenght and layered so it doesnt really touch my neck,so I dont see the problem why cant I wear it down.Also she she mentioned something about the nails,they cant be too long.Ok I agree with this because the lenght provide the site for microorganism colonization,however why cant they be painted???It is not like it willrelease the odor which then can be offending to the patients.

Rules are rules but in the reality how many of you nurses put your hair up and wear no nail polish to work.Just curious...

This thread needs to be closed or sectioned off with big yellow obnoxious looking tape.

Well, we are still feeding it, so it continues.

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You right all the post in which someone has different opinion should closed,good luck with that!!!!

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Specializes in Critical care, neuroscience, telemetry,.

I can understand some of your frustration with nursing school. I remember dangling at the bottom of a lot of my clinical groups and having no clue why some of my instructors were less than ecstatic with my performance.

In retrospect, I believe a lot of it had to do with my relative lack of maturity, which at the ripe old age of 21 was something I really struggled with. It certainly had nothing to do with my uniform - white dress with hemline "below the tibial tuberosity" as stated in our school guidelines, white hose, sturdy, closed toe white shoes, and a cap perched atop my pointy head. Think "Cherry Ames meets Ugly Betty".

I don't mean to be judgmental or critical, but I have actually read through the previous 18+ pages of this post and it does seem to me that you are maybe focusing a bit too much on appearance issues as a student nurse. If your instuctors tell you to put up your hair, keep your nails plain and wear loose fitting uniforms, just do it.

Gotta tell you, I kind of envy some of our younger nurses in the SICU where I work. They're pretty, and firm in all the right places. They can wear the Dickies and Baby Phat and cute things and make them look good. Hell, they could wear sackcloth and make it look good!

Most of them don't, however. They pin up their pretty hair, and they wear their nails short and unadorned, and they wear plain, loose fitting scrubs. I respect them as my colleagues, and I can assure you, our physicians respect them as well.

I wear dark scrubs and a white jacket. My hair, which is turning gray faster than I like, is up and my nails are short. I wear stud earrings.

I don't think I look all that pretty when I'm at work. I do think, however, that I look professional. In my area, we deal with a lot of wounds, and baths, and heavy patients. I wear things that cover my parts whether I bend or stretch or run. I will probably do all three things in the course of a shift. I want the family member who sees me with their loved one to have confidence in my ability to take care of him/her. Hair hanging loose and nail polish don't project a particularly professional appearance.

Nursing school isn't forever. Wear what they tell you to wear, study hard, and do your best to give excellent care to your patients. When you graduate, you'll have more choice in what you wear as a nurse.

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You seem to appear more ignorant and ignorant with each of your posts.Maybe it is time to have children!!!!LOL

Ummmm........ok?

After reading this thread, I have to agree with many others, lovehospital (I'm saying this kindly!)---really try to focus on the big picture and don't sweat the small stuff.

There are always rules in life that we don't like---it's just part of life. How you deal with them will largely determine your level of happiness as well as success.

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Specializes in Cardiac Telemetry, ED.
Wow....hostility toward clinical instructors is rampant on this thread. I finally must say something....

I am a nursing professor / clinical instructor. I do both didactic and clinical teaching. I adhere to all rules required of my students in the nail, hair, jewelry department. I also assist with IV insertion, dressing changes, and foley and straight cath insertion (I teach OB.....we do a few of those...), among other things. Believe it!!

You misinterpreted my comment. I have no hostility toward clinical instructors whatsoever. In fact, I had wonderful clinical experiences with CIs that I am very proud to have been taught by.

In my clinical experience, the instructors did not assist with any of these skills. We learned them in the lab, had to be checked off, and then if we had the opportunity to practice in clinical, the instructors would watch and supervise, but did not actually provide hands on assistance other than perhaps opening a package or holding an item. We were expected to know what we were doing before we walked into that room to do it.

I think the most assistance I got from a CI doing a procedure was having her hand me the tegaderm after I DCd a central line.

At any rate, in my original comment, I stated urinary catheter CARE (as in peri care), surgical incision CARE (as in a simple clean dressing change), and IV site CARE (i.e. NS flush). I find it hard to believe that CIs routinely assist with these things, as in hands on. I'm sorry, but if a student is not capable of providing peri care, changing a clean dressing, or doing a simple flush without the CI's physical assistance, then they shouldn't be performing that skill on a live person in the first place. That's what the skills lab is for.

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I can understand some of your frustration with nursing school. I remember dangling at the bottom of a lot of my clinical groups and having no clue why some of my instructors were less than ecstatic with my performance.

In retrospect, I believe a lot of it had to do with my relative lack of maturity, which at the ripe old age of 21 was something I really struggled with. It certainly had nothing to do with my uniform - white dress with hemline "below the tibial tuberosity" as stated in our school guidelines, white hose, sturdy, closed toe white shoes, and a cap perched atop my pointy head. Think "Cherry Ames meets Ugly Betty".

I don't mean to be judgmental or critical, but I have actually read through the previous 18+ pages of this post and it does seem to me that you are maybe focusing a bit too much on appearance issues as a student nurse. If your instuctors tell you to put up your hair, keep your nails plain and wear loose fitting uniforms, just do it.

Gotta tell you, I kind of envy some of our younger nurses in the SICU where I work. They're pretty, and firm in all the right places. They can wear the Dickies and Baby Phat and cute things and make them look good. Hell, they could wear sackcloth and make it look good!

Most of them don't, however. They pin up their pretty hair, and they wear their nails short and unadorned, and they wear plain, loose fitting scrubs. I respect them as my colleagues, and I can assure you, our physicians respect them as well.

I wear dark scrubs and a white jacket. My hair, which is turning gray faster than I like, is up and my nails are short. I wear stud earrings.

I don't think I look all that pretty when I'm at work. I do think, however, that I look professional. In my area, we deal with a lot of wounds, and baths, and heavy patients. I wear things that cover my parts whether I bend or stretch or run. I will probably do all three things in the course of a shift. I want the family member who sees me with their loved one to have confidence in my ability to take care of him/her. Hair hanging loose and nail polish don't project a particularly professional appearance.

Nursing school isn't forever. Wear what they tell you to wear, study hard, and do your best to give excellent care to your patients. When you graduate, you'll have more choice in what you wear as a nurse.

And I must tell you that I envy some of the older the nurses with tons of experience,..also I have worked with some fairly attractive nurses who had their hair down,nice earings and make up and from my observations they were excellent nurses,so nice appearance doesnt equal less of a nurse..it is all about how you choose carry yourself.I'm really surprise that some people on this thread assume that I dont care about my patients....because I care about appearance or nor will I be a good nurse...also I study really hard,otherwise I wouldnt be where I'm now,however I dont have too many friend becuase they turned out to be jealous ******* ..and about cultural differences if I may add actually U.S is the top country in the world obssessed with looks,youth,and money....so the argument about cultural diferences seems invalid.

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double post.

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You misinterpreted my comment. I have no hostility toward clinical instructors whatsoever. In fact, I had wonderful clinical experiences with CIs that I am very proud to have been taught by.

In my clinical experience, the instructors did not assist with any of these skills. We learned them in the lab, had to be checked off, and then if we had the opportunity to practice in clinical, the instructors would watch and supervise, but did not actually provide hands on assistance other than perhaps opening a package or holding an item. We were expected to know what we were doing before we walked into that room to do it.

I think the most assistance I got from a CI doing a procedure was having her hand me the tegaderm after I DCd a central line.

At any rate, in my original comment, I stated urinary catheter CARE (as in peri care), surgical incision CARE (as in a simple clean dressing change), and IV site CARE (i.e. NS flush). I find it hard to believe that CIs routinely assist with these things, as in hands on. I'm sorry, but if a student is not capable of providing peri care, changing a clean dressing, or doing a simple flush without the CI's physical assistance, then they shouldn't be performing that skill on a live person in the first place. That's what the skills lab is for.

You got to be kidding me,do you think it is enough to practice on a mannequin? Ok so what is next,drawing labs and IV's on fake plastic dolls,haha...

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Specializes in From cradle to death bed.

Hi Unchainedfever, sorry, not sure what your talking about in this quote but asexual and professional in the same sentence makes no sense, and if you think it does, we are definitely not on the same wave length, thats my story and Im sticking to it

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Specializes in Cardiac Telemetry, ED.
You got to be kidding me,do you think it is enough to practice on a mannequin? Ok so what is next,drawing labs and IV's on fake plastic dolls,haha...

Do you even read posts before responding?

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Do you even read posts before responding?

Yes I do....but it seems that you have no understanding for novice nurses,you would probably tear me apart in the clinical for blanking out on the procedure instead of guiding me through it or show me!!!

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You misinterpreted my comment. I have no hostility toward clinical instructors whatsoever. In fact, I had wonderful clinical experiences with CIs that I am very proud to have been taught by.

In my clinical experience, the instructors did not assist with any of these skills. We learned them in the lab, had to be checked off, and then if we had the opportunity to practice in clinical, the instructors would watch and supervise, but did not actually provide hands on assistance other than perhaps opening a package or holding an item. We were expected to know what we were doing before we walked into that room to do it.

I think the most assistance I got from a CI doing a procedure was having her hand me the tegaderm after I DCd a central line.

At any rate, in my original comment, I stated urinary catheter CARE (as in peri care), surgical incision CARE (as in a simple clean dressing change), and IV site CARE (i.e. NS flush). I find it hard to believe that CIs routinely assist with these things, as in hands on. I'm sorry, but if a student is not capable of providing peri care, changing a clean dressing, or doing a simple flush without the CI's physical assistance, then they shouldn't be performing that skill on a live person in the first place. That's what the skills lab is for.

Also nursing instructors should set an example for us green students since they like to chews on the rules.

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