UNI PROFESSIONAL IMAGE GUIDELINES

UNIVERSITY OF UTAH NEUROPSYCHIATRIC INSTITUTE

UNIVERSITY OF UTAH HOSPITALS AND CLINICS STANDARD

I. PURPOSE:
A. To provide UNI-specific guidelines for employee dress, appearance and
grooming in addition to the University Health Care Dress Code Guideline.

II. POLICY
A. The employee’s appearance should not detract from, nor draw more attention
than, the service and expertise being provided.

III. SCOPE
These guidelines apply to all UNI departments/programs.

IV. DEFINITIONS:
A. Clinical Care Staff: includes personnel who have patient care contact—e.g.
Nursing Staff, expressive therapists, social workers, psychologists, dieticians.
B. Nursing Staff: includes nurses, psych techs, HUCs

V. GUIDELINE
A. Personal Identification (ID badge):
1. U of U personal identification/name badge must be worn at all times while
employee is at work in the hospital. I.D. badges must be worn at chest level
or above; must be free of pins, stickers, or any other material which might
interfere with wearer identification.
2. If an employee comes to work without his/her badge, they may be sent home
to find badge or sent to pay for a new/replacement badge.

B. Personal Hygiene and Grooming:

1. Employees are expected to be neatly groomed and neatly dressed.
2. Please be considerate of others who may be sensitive to strong fragrances
and avoid their use.
3. Clothing and body must be free of smoke odor.
4. Long hair must be tied back to avoid patient contact during patient care
and/or transportation.
5. Extreme hairstyles such as dreadlocks and mohawks or non-natural colors
are not permitted.
6. Hats and head coverings:
a. May not be worn (except those worn for religious or medical purposes).
b. Dietary staff, or anyone entering the kitchen, must wear a hair net, hat, or
head covering to cover/contain hair.
7. Facial hair may be worn if short and neatly trimmed.
a. Exception: When patient care necessitates wearing personal protective
masks, facial hair must be in accordance with mask fit regulations. If you
passed with 3M or Kimberly Clark mask, you must be clean shaven.
 8. Clinical Care Staff may not wear artificial or extremely long finger nails.
9. Nail polish may be worn in conservative colors.

C. Personal Dress and Safety:

1. Employees are expected to dress appropriately for the essential functions of
their job.
a. Clinical Care staff may wear Casual Business attire.
b. Nursing staff may also wear Scrubs.
c. Maintenance, EVS, and Kitchen staff will wear uniforms specific to their
departments.
d. ROPES Course employees may wear clean and neat t-shirts and shorts.
2. The following items may not be worn:
a. No denim (i.e. jeans, skirts, shirts, overalls, vests, etc.)
b. No fleece, flannel, or Sweatshirt material (i.e. tops, pants, vests, jackets,
“hoodies”).
c. No shorts, skorts, knee-high shorts.
d. No Jeans or leather pants of any kind or color.
e. No sunglasses indoors at any time.
3. Tops
a. Tops must be clean, stain-free, and without holes or areas of wear
(preference of collared tops).
b. Tee-shirts must be modest and worn covered by another article of clothing
(i.e. cardigan or scrub jacket/top for nursing staff).
c. Sleeveless tops modest or worn under a jacket or sweater or scrub
jacket/top for nursing staff.
d. Tops without collars should be tailored and made of quality, firmer fabrics
that hold their shape.
e. Tops that reveal the abdomen, back, shoulders, cleavage, undergarments
at any time (including standing, lifting or bending over) are prohibited (i.e.
sheer or revealing).
f. The only approved university or health care logos for tops (or pants) are
University of Utah, University Health Care or UNI related. Brand logos
(like Nike, Izod, Polo) are acceptable.
g. If a jacket needs to be worn for warmth, jackets cannot be “gym,” team,
ski, denim, or fleece. Sweaters, or scrub tops for nursing staff, are best
options.
4. Pants
a. Pants must be clean, stain-free, and without holes. Pants must not show
skin or undergarments at anytime with movement.
b. Dressy Capri’s can be worn if mid-calf length or longer.
c. “Pajama pants”, cargo pants, or tight athletic pants may not be worn.
5. Scrubs may be worn by nursing staff and must be in good repair and of a
conservative nature for our patient population (solid colors are preferred).
a. Extreme colors, patterns, and prints need to be avoided (i.e. skulls, neon
orange, South Park cartoon).
 b. Scrubs with logos from other hospitals or other facilities cannot be worn
(i.e. IHC, Penn State, Boston General).
c. Blue or red scrubs (like the ones that patients wear) may not be worn.
6. Jewelry/Piercings
a. Staff may wear conservative earrings, a watch, and/or rings (with no large
stones).
b. Clinical Care staff may not wear hanging earrings, necklaces, or large
bracelets or rings.
c. Ears may be pierced. Limit two earrings per ear lobe (no earrings worn on
upper ear area).
d. Noses may be pierced and no more than one small stud may be worn.
Hooped nose piercings may not be worn.
e. No other piercing may be worn on exposed parts of body, including
tongue.
f. Use skin toned plugs in other piercing holes on exposed parts of body.
7. Footwear
a. Employees should wear shoes that support the essential functions of their
jobs.
b. No Crocs with holes (or in extreme colors)
c. No excessively worn or dirty shoes
a. No slippers, sandals, five-toed shoes, flip flops, or bare feet.
d. Clinical Care staff may not wear open toe shoes.
e. Maintenance, EVS, and Kitchen staff will wear shoes approved by their
departments.
8. Visible tattoos must not be offensive and if asked by patient, co-worker or
supervisor must be covered.

VI. REFERENCES:
1. University Health Care Dress Code Guideline

HISTORICAL INFORMATION -
ORIGIN DATE: June 1, 2016
REVIEW DATES:
REVISION DATES:
APPROVAL DATES: July 13, 2016
OWNER: Accreditation Specialist
APPROVAL BODY: Quality Council

Amendment Record
This policy is reviewed to ensure its continuing relevance to the systems and process
that it describes. A record of the most recent contextual additions or omissions is given
below:
Page No. Revision Date