The Challenge of Having Good Appearance on Nurses

For all the nurses be dressed up in uniforms and scrubs, every eye that see them would see nothing but glamour albeit cleanliness. Nurses were taught before and even now that their standard uniform is their passport to gain authority and respect. However, the standard uniform is sometimes not conducive to the place they work like in the emergency room or the operating room. In these places, nurses and their uniforms are exposed to squirting fluids from their patients so whites are easily stained. Good thing that many institutions now allow nurses to use their preferred comfortable nursing scrubs. Still, the scrub suits do not guarantee a nurse that it can no longer be stained but because it comes in different colors, stains can somehow be concealed. Also, scrubs are way easier to clean than whites. Hence, the challenge of looking good is still up for answers.

Recently, an online journal about obesity had an eye on the grooming of nurses. The story on the journal said that it was about a voicemail that was sent to the writer. It was about a nurse complaining about the photo used in a health magazine. The nurse/commenter did observed about the nurses in the picture with lousy scrubs and having "unkempt and disheveled" hairs. What the commenter took notice more of the picture is the obese nurse at the background which the sender quipped with "And in the back of the picture there is a typically obese nurse!" The author of the journal finds the comments to be somewhat derogatory in fairness to all nurses. With such inference of the sender, he/she somehow keeps a rather unhealthy view towards obese nurses even more so with lousy scrubs and unfixed hairs.

The foregoing statements and rebuttals of the author of the journal proceeded to the rebuking the sender calling such comment as inelegant and contemptuous. For the side of the author of the journal, her point was that, the plain picture that was posted on that certain magazine does not reflect the overall look and hygienic attitudes of nurses generally. True enough; the picture might be a just tool for the sake of art.

The comments and the rebuttals somehow opened the long unresolved debate in the healthcare profession starting with the old adage “Physician, heal thyself” with a connotation that healthcare workers should be first at advancing wellness and fitness among others.

Being well dressed and groomed is not an issue whether a person is a nurse or not. It is an issue of hygiene for everybody. In fact, it should be a nurse’s responsibility to look good as he/she is exposed to a rather infectious environment. Though institutions allow nurses to be on nursing scrubs rather than on whites, it does not mean that nurses should neglect grooming.

The issue on obesity is surely debatable especially if obesity has been acquired along while and not genetically. However, it must not be boxed to a certain point that the debate would cause an unavoidable discrimination issue. The view here is that, as long as the RN accomplishes his/her task then the underlying issues could somehow be overpowered.