“when i was a student, i put up with that crap, but i have been a nurse for over six years now, i am so done with that!”

H was furious. in her other job, she was asked to put up her hair. per policy, her charge nurse said. well, H was not only furious that she was never told of the said policy when she started working there about two years ago, she also made it clear that she will quit if they will ask to put her hair up again.

hair up, or hair down?

is there a difference? is there a point to all this debate?

if you are a patient, or a family member of the patient, does it matter to you if the nurse’s hair is up? does it bother you that she/he has this gorgeous curls that flow down her shoulders, locks that occasionally cover the face, or hair that’s just so long and shiny it affects you sexually when it touches your sheets or your skin?

if you are a nurse, do you look at other nurses with long hair flowing down their shoulders differently? do they look unprofessional to you? do you think that they, and their patients are better off if they put their hair up? or you say to yourself: “who cares?!”

and what is the difference when you were a student nurse? did you just do it because you were asked by your clinical instructors to, or you subconsciously thought that putting your hair up will give you an appearance of professionalism that will make the patient overlook the fact that you are still a student?

and taking this discussion to a different but totally relevant level, let me ask you this out of curiosity. if your nurse is trying to conceal a mark in her/his neck left by some passionate mindless kisses…would you rather see her/his hair up and insinuate about the nature of the kiss, or see hair down her/his shoulder and stay uninformed about your nurse’s sexual life? or you couldn’t care less?

does it matter to you?