Is long hair professional in EMS?

[LucidResq]

Professionalism has nothing to do with length of hair, length of nails, facial hair, tattoos, piercings, branding/scarification or any other superficial features.

Tell that to my patients at the clinic who looked at me in uncomfortable shock when they saw my trainee who has pink streaks in her hair, facial piercings, and some weird clavicle piercing visible just above her scrubs.

Long hair on a guy might be ok. A tasteful, visible tattoo might also be ok.

Besides the fact that the following do not contribute to a professional image, long nails are not ok because they are proven to spread infection, facial piercings or danglies / hoops are not ok because they are a safety issue (we even strongly recommended certain non-visible body piercings such as belly button rings not be worn on our SAR team because when you're doing rope stuff etc you don't want that stuff ripped out), facial hair compromises the fit of an N95 as mentioned and is usually forbidden to some degree in the fire service because your mask won't fit right.

It's hard to imagine how many of our patients feel about "non-traditional" appearances because we come from a generation that is pretty darn accepting of that stuff. If you really try to put yourself in that 83-year-old woman's shoes though, you have to remember that most of her life was spent in a time when this stuff wasn't ok, and was associated much more with criminals and seedy types rather than a trustworthy medical provider. And what do you have if you don't have your patient's trust and comfort?

 

[Aerin-Sol]

Wow that is the most unprofessional statement of the year. What we do is about the patients not about us. Odds are most of your patients will be older people that feel men should not have long hair. Why should you cause them stress and aggravation? Do whats best for the patient.

Oh and don't start the well if they don't like white/brown/black people are we going to change medics crap. Hair is a simple item you can control. Race or gender is something that we can not control.

Most unprofessional statement of the year? Nice hyperbole.

I am a person, not a subservient robot. I am not going to alter my physical appearance and mannerisms based on how one group of patients might potentially react to it. "Professionalism" doesn't mean subsuming your identity.

 

[medic417]

Most unprofessional statement of the year? Nice hyperbole.

I am a person, not a subservient robot. I am not going to alter my physical appearance and mannerisms based on how one group of patients might potentially react to it. "Professionalism" doesn't mean subsuming your identity.

And the "me first" generation strikes again. Was not that long ago we thought of others first. Yes we had bad apples but the majority chose to consider others first.

 

[DaniGrrl]

My great-grandmother grew up wearing wooden shoes in rural France and handled tattoos and piercings and long hair and shaved heads just fine right up until she died at 94. I think generalizing that old people can't handle those things is just ridiculous. Some people, young or old, think those style choices are indicative of a character defect, some don't.

It boils down to the fact that you have to put up with your employer's policy on appearance or you have to find another job. Everything else is just chatter.

 

[Aerin-Sol]

And the "me first" generation strikes again. Was not that long ago we thought of others first. Yes we had bad apples but the majority chose to consider others first.

Yeah, you know my entire personality and mindset based on a few statements indicating that I don't base my life on what some imagined monolothic group of Americans wants. We don't live in a collectivist society, nor did we "not that long ago."

 

[usafmedic45]

Swing and a miss. You missed the point he was trying to make: that many of us still believe that if you want to belong to a group that has specific standards of dress, grooming, behavior, et cetera you must abide by those standards. This is regardless of your status as a person and complying with those mores does not make one a "subservient robot". If you don't want to comply, you don't get to play. Simple as that. You can't play in Major League Baseball wearing only a thong and a F**K YOU hat, so why should be expect any different from professionals in another field that are drawn from just as broad a spectrum of communities as professional athletes are pulled from?

Not only did you miss (or, more likely, choose to ignore) the point Medic417 was trying to make, you actually reinforced it.

 

[usafmedic45]

No, long hair is not considered unprofessional by people in OUR generation

Well, it depends on how it is worn and maintained. If you come out looking like that dude from Counting Crows with the really awful dreds, I'm probably not going to view you as "professional". In other words, if your hair looks like it took a trip through the GI tract of a cat or an owl and was regurgitated, it's not professional by any generation's standards for professionals (outside of maybe a bong emporium, a vintage clothing store or a record shop). My definition of "professional" when it comes to hair has more to do with how well the hair is washed and groomed than the length. If can smell your hair from more than arms length away, you're using too much product or you need to bathe more frequently.

 

[Aerin-Sol]

Swing and a miss. You missed the point he was trying to make: that many of us still believe that if you want to belong to a group that has specific standards of dress, grooming, behavior, et cetera you must abide by those standards. This is regardless of your status as a person and complying with those mores does not make one a "subservient robot".

We are arguing over what the specific standards of dress/grooming/behavior/etc are for EMS, not whether or not they exist. Furthermore, you may believe that it is necessary to follow your standards to "belong to the group," but it's not, unless you're defining the group as specific companies. To be an EMT/Paramedic requires taking the classes, doing clinical time, and passing the national registry, not adhering to specific mores, nor am I aware of any profession that requires a particular standard of grooming to become a member.

If you don't want to comply, you don't get to play. Simple as that. You can't play in Major League Baseball wearing only a thong and a F**K YOU hat, so why should be expect any different from professionals in another field that are drawn from just as broad a spectrum of communities as professional athletes are pulled from?

Nice strawman (who is arguing against uniforms or for profanity-bearing garments in this thread?), although it's still an interesting argument. Does anyone argue that pitcher with long hair is less professional than a pitcher with short hair, or whether or not first basemen should have tattoos?

 

[usafmedic45]

Nice strawman (who is arguing against uniforms or for profanity-bearing garments in this thread?), although it's still an interesting argument. Does anyone argue that pitcher with long hair is less professional than a pitcher with short hair, or whether or not first basemen should have tattoos?

It's another example of a group standard and how one- if they want to be part of a profession- can not simply do as they please, at least not without fear of potential repercutions. If you can't see that, then I'm not going to argue with you because I generally try to refrain from arguing with people who can't extrapolate. It's a good sign they are simply looking for an excuse to argue or have their egos fluffed a little. If you honestly believe that the example I used is an example of the straw man fallacy, you really need to revisit your own arguments that YOU don't believe that a pretty general consensus consitutes a "group".

Yes there is a "group" called EMS. Yes, we have standards beyond the educational and credentialing standards. Yes, there there may be some slight variability between services but as a general rule, there are grooming standards and they are pretty uniform around the country. I've worked in several states for more than a dozen different agencies. I could damn near photocopy the employee dress code section for one and use it for all of them. None of them implicitly banned long hair (except for flight organizations and fire departments where it can interfere with the fit of helmets) but all of them had a provision that we were required to have clean and "well-groomed" hair.

not adhering to specific mores,

You need to rethink that statement. You are about to paint yourself into a corner with it.

nor am I aware of any profession that requires a particular standard of grooming to become a member.

-Military
-Fire department
-Police
-EMS for the most part
-The legal profession
-Most professions in a hospital
Do I need to list any more?


Some of these it may be not be a "requirement to become a member" of the group, but if you want to succeed in it, you would be well advised to not be the one rocking the boat over something stupid. It may not be a written regulation per se, but it is often enforced with just as much vigor. True professions tend to do a lot of house cleaning to rid themselves of people who are not up to the standards (written or unwritten, traditional or newly adopted).

 

[ZVNEMT]

I can deal with guys having long hair... i had long hair myself in high school. things like tattoos and piercings can be hidden. I've got a tattoo on my right forearm, a big cross... that combined with a shaved head and big *** boots have given the occasional pt the impression that i am a white supremacist. i now wear a hat, and wear a $12 compression shirt from walmart under my uniform. instant non-racist... ( I have also removed both nipple rings... they always get hooked on something and get infected... and it they hurt in the winter...)

you can all have a freak flag, just don't fly it at work...

 

[usafmedic45]

you can all have a freak flag, just don't fly it at work...

That's my policy. I mean I am the guy who thinks it's a good idea to sport a tattoo of an Expert Field Medical Badge with words "A time to kill, a time to heal" on his forearm. I have plenty more "freak" in me, but that is not the business of anyone on here (or anyone I work with or work on). More people need to learn compartmentalization when it comes to their lives. It makes things so much simpler.

 

[LucidResq]

You can't play in Major League Baseball wearing only a thong and a F**K YOU hat....

Shame you can't, because that would actually make baseball worth watching. :sad:

-Military
-Fire department
-Police
-EMS for the most part
-The legal profession
-Most professions in a hospital
Do I need to list any more?

-Strippers
-Fast food employees
-Weathermen
-Teachers
-Flight attendants
-Mail men
-Grocery clerks

 

[LucidResq]

By the way, this probably is irrelevant to you since you stated expressing your individuality is more important than your patient's comfort and trust, but there have been several studies conducted on the physical appearance of health care providers and how it affects their patients. Mostly on family care and ED physicians, pediatricians, and nurses, but we are all still health care providers and I would be shocked if a similar study of EMS providers didn't reveal very similar results.

They all generally agree that patients trust HCPs who appear clean-cut and traditional more than HCPs who appear non-conventional or casual. Now, I can't say that these studies specifically addressed tattoos or piercings, but I can't imagine that facial piercings and insane tattoos are acceptable when things like tennis shoes and jeans are looked down upon by patients. A few studies have even shown that patients reveal their symptoms more readily to HCPs who appear as above, clean-cut and traditional.

You sound like either one of those EMSers who thinks they're doing patients a big favor by showing up, and they have no right to be offended by how you act, appear or dress, because you showed up dammit and you put them on O2 and drove them to the hospital so they should shut up and be thankful.... or a rebellious teenager who over-relates the correspondence between their identity and physical appearance.

 

[LucidResq]

On all questions regarding physician dress style preferences, respondents significantly favored the professional attire with white coat (76.3%, P <.0001), followed by surgical scrubs (10.2%), business dress (8.8%), and casual dress (4.7%). Their trust and confidence was significantly associated with their preference for professional dress (P <.0001). Respondents also reported that they were significantly more willing to share their social, sexual, and psychological problems with the physician who is professionally dressed (P <.0001)

Rehman, SU (2005). What to wear today? Effect of doctor's attire on the trust and confidence of patients. The American journal of medicine (0002-9343), 118 (11), p. 1279.

....both male and female physician models, the comfort level of patients and their perceptions of physician competence were the highest in response to images of physicians dressed in scrubs with a white coat, and least for casual dress

Cha A, Hecht BR, Nelson K, & Hopkins MP. (2004). Resident physician attire: does it make a difference to our patients? American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology. 190 (5), 1484-8.

Several of the children had conservative opinions about nurses’ appearance, for
example, Anna (age 11), who described the good nurse as ‘graceful’, and Dean (age 7)
who spoke of the good nurse as looking ‘decent’

‘Sensible’ and ‘professional’ hairstyles were frequently mentioned...

Brady M. (2009). Hospitalized children's views of the good nurse. Nursing Ethics. 16 (5), 543-560.

 

[adamjh3]

The bottom line is we are in the customer service business. It is our job to make our patients as comfortable as possible. Yes, a good attitude and knowing what you're doing helps, but the way you LOOK is the first thing your patients will see, and we all know how very important first impressions are.

If I can't have a visible tattoo while pushing groceries across a counter, why should someone who is dealing with people's bodies be able to? If my hair can't drop lower than my collar while throwing a dairy load, why is it alright for someone dealing with people's lives?

Like the studies that Lucid provided clearly state, patients are more comfortable with more professional looking workers.

 

[usafmedic45]

Shame you can't, because that would actually make baseball worth watching.

Tell me about it.

 

[Veneficus]

Shame you can't, because that would actually make baseball worth watching. :sad:

You're talking about a sport where in a "perfect game" nothing happens at all.

I like to watch amateur bull fighting, extreme sports, skiing, and racing. Though I can't tell you who won the event, I am really entertained by those who spectacularly didn't.

 

[esmcdowell]

First, no I don't think that long hair on a guy is unprofessional, as long as it is well cared for. Second, you should be thinking more about the safety and health aspect of your hair/nails. long hair and nails can and do present a greater health and safety risk to yourself and those around you. long nails can puncture gloves and trap pathogens and bodily substances, and I have seen people, both men and women, with hair falling into blood and vomit because it was just too long and/or not kept contained.

 

[emdub]

Sheesh this might just be me living it totally hippy nor-cal but I think as long as you look sharp and clean cut then it should be fine. I have really long hair (I mean, it's different because I'm a girl) but my biggest concern is washing vomit and blood out of it. It's (obviously) much easier to do with short hair. Haha. Just make sure it's clear before you get targeted with chunks.

That being said, all the medics that I work with have short hair or shave their heads to make cleaning up easier, and they do look very professional. But your proficiency should be gauged by your actions, and sometimes in order to compensate for a physical attribute that's unprofessional looking you need to have a more professional attitude.
(For example, I have visible tattoos at work and I know and have been told that it is viewed as unprofessional so I try to make up for it by keeping up my game at all times and upping the authority a notch.)

 

[emdub]

The bottom line is we are in the customer service business. It is our job to make our patients as comfortable as possible. Yes, a good attitude and knowing what you're doing helps, but the way you LOOK is the first thing your patients will see, and we all know how very important first impressions are.

If I can't have a visible tattoo while pushing groceries across a counter, why should someone who is dealing with people's bodies be able to? If my hair can't drop lower than my collar while throwing a dairy load, why is it alright for someone dealing with people's lives?

Like the studies that Lucid provided clearly state, patients are more comfortable with more professional looking workers.

I don't think that this profession is comparable to a customer service job like a grocer. I don't think that's a fair judgment at all. We spend 72 hours at a time waiting to save lives, not six hour shifts at the market bagging groceries. Totally different in regards to professionalism, respect, and "privilege" if you'd call it that. Some of the best medics I know are inked from head to toe and they are not doubted for a split second when it comes to professionalism because they are THAT on top of things all the time. No offense at all, I just disagree with that comparison.