Can a Nurse have a Tattoo???

Nurses Professionalism

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My mom keeps on telling me that Nurses can't have any tattoo or even any piercings, like industrial or cartilage or any thing like that. IS IT TRUE?!?!?!?!

Specializes in OR.

I have a large chest tattoo that is easily seen if I am wearing a shirt that does not sit close to my neck. I have not had any issues at either job I have worked. The first job had a tattoo policy that they had to be covered, but they were pretty relaxed about it. I was asked to cover up once, but I didn't and it was never brought up again (it turned out to be another coworker who I didn't have a particularly good relationship with trying to get me in trouble). Other than that one time, I have never had it be a problem. I don't want to stop getting tattoos so I just try and keep them in places that I can cover them for interviews.

mmmmmm i love these threads. I have been a qualified nurse for a while now and i have loads of tattoos. i have got half sleeves but you can see them just poking out of my uniform and the same with the bits on my chest. I have had them for years and longer than i have been a nurse/student.

Not one job application says do you have tattoos on it. Never in an interview have i been asked about my appearance. A matron did say to me once she wouldnt employ any nurse with visible tattoos (obviously not seen mine). my reply was "what other judgements should i make about people based on the colour of their skin?" Problem solved. It doesnt matter if your black white or multi coloured a good nurse is a good nurse.

My trusts uniform policy says offensive tattoos must be covered and that it.

I do feel the attitudes towards tattoos are a little victorian but then it wasnt that long ago nurses had to ask permission from matrons to get married. Times will change.

Last point. I have lost count of the amount of conversations i have started with patients about tattoos. My favorites are the little old men with a murky blob in the shape of an anchor or similar. Or the asian ladies who are covered from head to toe with symbols. I have make good working relationships with families and patients because i take interest in their relative/ them and not just their condition.

summary if you cant be bothered to read all that.

If you want tattoos, do it. Just prove them wrong by being an amazing nurse with tattoos.

I have a pretty visible wrist tattoo that I got just 2 years ago; AFTER I had recently started a new job as a Team Leader. I live in a very religious/conservative area & while my facility's policy states "no offensive tattoos & no extensive body art" I was fully prepared to keep it covered if asked. I view my tat as a personal thing, and I am comfortable covering it if required by my employer because I love my job. Several weeks after I got it, my boss noticed it & said "did you always have that tattoo?" I told her no, I had just got it. She asked about it, & I explained the meaning behind it. She actually complimented me on it. I asked if it needed to be covered & she replied "I don't think so, it's certainly not offensive. Plus you are a great nurse & employee." Enough said. :)

We have a PA that assists one of our surgeons in surgery & works in his office. She had a nose piercing that is a very small stud. Looks totally awesome....nothing has ever been said to her. Makes me REALLY want one!

Specializes in ER.

Depends. If corporate walks around our hospital then all the nurses have to put bandages on or long sleeves asap. We had one charge that had to dig through a box of donated clothes for long sleeves because he had an arm tattoo. Nursing schools tend to be more strict.

Specializes in Med/surg, Onc.

Of course they can have tattoos. I'm working on a nursing themed half sleeve right now. I am required to cover anything larger than 2 inches by 2 inches so I wear a compression sleeve like what many athletes use while I'm at work. My other tattoos are more easily covered by pants and shirts.

I think the important part is being prepared to cover up at work if the facility requires it.

My facility doesn't now allow band aids as coverings either.

My industrial and cartilage piercing and my two lobe piercings are allowed. Just nothing dangling allowed but that varies more than anything else from place to place.

I'm echoing a lot of other people on this board, but really, it comes down to hospital policy. I have tattoos all over my arms and on my back, but I keep my arms covered during work. We were also not allowed to show tattoos while I was in school. I also used to volunteer in an ED in San Francisco, and one of the nurses had full-on sleeves and didn't bother covering them. I know a nurse in Seattle who is tattooed up the wazoo and shows them. Something I have been seeing more often is a small stud side nose piercing as well. I have my septum pierced with a very small ring normally, but take it out for work.

Really, in this day and age, tattoos are so "normal" that one would think, what's the big deal? But unfortunately, people still judge and discriminate. Sorry, but not everyone who gets tattoos is a drunken sailor or an ex-con!

The "no visible tattoos" policy is discriminatory. Pure and simple. Making someone cover it up because you have a personal bias against ink is wrong. Trying to equate professionalism being antithetical with tats is ludicrous.

Specializes in OR, Nursing Professional Development.
ajmclean said:
The "no visible tattoos" policy is discriminatory. Pure and simple. Making someone cover it up because you have a personal bias against ink is wrong. Trying to equate professionalism being antithetical with tats is ludicrous.

Please show me any law that classifies "no visible tattoos" as discriminatory. People with tattoos are not a protected class, and facilities have the right to set expectations of their employees. The responsibility of those seeking jobs is to find a facility compatible with their expectations as well. You'll see the same sort of argument against facilities that require flu vaccines; again, if one is against a certain type of policy, they must find a facility that doesn't have such a policy.

Rose_Queen said:
Please show me any law that classifies "no visible tattoos" as discriminatory. People with tattoos are not a protected class, and facilities have the right to set expectations of their employees. The responsibility of those seeking jobs is to find a facility compatible with their expectations as well. You'll see the same sort of argument against facilities that require flu vaccines; again, if one is against a certain type of policy, they must find a facility that doesn't have such a policy.

Wow. Legal, protected class? I didn't say, or imply, anything legal, or EEOC worthy. I gave an opinion.

ajmclean said:
Wow. Legal, protected class? I didn't say, or imply, anything legal, or EEOC worthy. I gave an opinion.

Actually, you DID, because you stated that facilities that have a "no visible tattoo policy" are discriminatory ("Pure and simple"). Discrimination is a legal term, and you were using it in that sense, so...while you thought you were giving an opinion, you were talking like someone who actually knew what he was talking about. Even if you don't

You were given the explanation about tattoo policies not falling into the "protected class" legal designation because it most certainly IS a hot issue, and people have long claimed LEGAL discrimination where there is none. Anyone can be refused employment simply by virtue of having a tattoo the hiring manager doesn't like, that's it. "Pure and simple".

futurenurse said:
My mom keeps on telling me that Nurses can't have any tattoo or even any piercings like industrial or cartilage or any thing like that. IS IT TRUE?!?!?!?![/quote']

I never wore my nose ring to school, clinical or interviews. I am now working and I only wear it when I'm not at work. I had a few classmates with visible tattoos and they had to be covered at all times. One patient saw a tattoo on the back of my classmates neck and he was so upset by it that he told his nurse, the charge nurse and our professor how mad it made him. Some people do get offended by tattoos and piercings and it may not be fair to have to cover them up and take out piercings but at the end of the day it's about looking professional.

RNsRWe said:
Actually, you DID, because you stated that facilities that have a "no visible tattoo policy" are discriminatory ("Pure and simple"). Discrimination is a legal term, and you were using it in that sense, so...while you thought you were giving an opinion, you were talking like someone who actually knew what he was talking about. Even if you don't

You were given the explanation about tattoo policies not falling into the "protected class" legal designation because it most certainly IS a hot issue, and people have long claimed LEGAL discrimination where there is none. Anyone can be refused employment simply by virtue of having a tattoo the hiring manager doesn't like, that's it. "Pure and simple".

You say that discrimination is a legal term and I used it in that sense. You inferred that although I didn't imply it. Ergo, you made an assumption and you know what that means :cheeky:. I used the term, as found in the dictionary, to express an opinion, not a legal one. If I was making a legal opinion, I would have stated so and cited a reference. I do have an extensive legal background although IANAL.

Let me clarify my comment- It is discriminatory, IN A NON-LEGAL CONTEXT, to prohibit tattoos. Why? Because the excuse given is that it is not professional. Really? Where's the foundation for this? Where's the empirical evidence? There is none. If we were to ban things because it's unprofessional, we'd ban overweight nurses, CNA's, PCT's etc., because it's unprofessional. It doesn't represent good health practices that we try to convey to our patients. We'd ban off-duty use of alcohol, tobacco, carbonated beverages, etc. And we'd do drug tests. Come on, get real.

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