[Noah930]

Not sure why they had to cut off his hair. First off, everyone--patient included--wears a surgical cap (like a fancy hairnet) when in the OR. Or at least in every OR in which I think I've ever worked. They don't wear a face mask, but surgical cap yes.

I'd guess it was an anesthesia issue, the reason for cutting his braid. Perhaps the masked airway couldn't be attached to a rubber strap that goes around the back of the patient's head. Still, I'm surprised the anesthesiologist wouldn't be able to work around that issue. To cut off someone's hair--particularly when you know it's gotta be important to them--and then not mention it to the patient afterwards is really odd. The whole environment of the OR is to respect the patient's wishes, especially when they aren't conscious enough to speak for themselves. That's the core belief of every nurse, after all--to be the patient's advocate. Heck, whenever we cut across a patient's tattoo, we always go to lengths to sew them back up with the tattoo aligned, even though patients usually graciously tell us not to worry about it.