Can a Nurse have a Tattoo???

canned_bread · May 13, 2012

I researched this issue myself. Some private hospitals have dress codes and visible tattoos and piercings (other than single ear ones) are not allowed, however the law says you can't discriminate... so it's interesting. I guess you just have to hide them at the interview.

sauconyrunner · May 13, 2012

Most hospitals have No visible tattoos and something about peircings in their dress codes. You can have all the tattoos you want on your rear.

While the law says you can not discriminate, you can always not be hired for a myriad of non-discriminatory reasons....(even if the real reason was the nose ring). And you probably will have to cover them up for school and work.

May be best to sticking with putting them in hidden areas, or just avoiding them all together.

yousoldtheworld · May 22, 2012

I have three tattoos. Our company's general rule is that they must be covered, but they are fairly lax on that and have a few employees with not easily covered tattoos (back of neck, wrist, etc). Mine are mostly covered, though the bottom of one of them sometimes peeks out under my sleeve.

As for piercings, most places will make you take them out, not only for appearance, but also for infection control reasons.

yousoldtheworld · May 22, 2012

destova said:
This topic reminds me of a gal I went to lpn classes with. She had tattoos around both wrists and the clinical instructors had her wrap them in gauze... not the best idea, as it then looked like she had tried cutting both her wrists! After a few weeks of clinicals, she just went with wearing fitted long sleeve tees under her scrubs. Poor girl always looked so overheated!!

See, when it comes to this stuff, what's the point? Does gauze on a wrist, or a band-aid or something similar covering a tattoo really look more professional? As long as the tattoo isn't vulgar, I think it's silly.

destova · May 22, 2012

\ said:
See, when it comes to this stuff, what's the point? Does gauze on a wrist, or a band-aid or something similar covering a tattoo really look more professional? As long as the tattoo isn't vulgar, I think it's silly.

Right, the gauze "solution" looked rather disturbing. Imagine being ill and tired and your nurse comes in looking like she's suicidal. Scary!!!! It was poor decision making on the instructors part. The tattoos weren't that big, and while I can't recall what they were of, I'm sure it wasn't anything crazy or I'd probably remember!

The long sleeve tees looked better than gauze, but in the end all her patients had a chance to see them anyway, as she had to pull up the sleeves for almost all pt care duties. But those sleeves went back down the minute an instructor was nearby

Topaz7 · May 30, 2012

It all depends on where you work at. I got hired in with a monroe piercing and red hair on a geriatric psych unit with no issues at all. When I started nursing school my nursing prof made me take it out. I think it is absolutely ridiculous that people are viewed "unprofessional" if they have tats or piercings and work in healthcare. It is 2012 not 1925, the ink doesn't mess up your brain chemistry and the piercings don't either. In my opinion it is discrimination and stereotyping. Having tats/piercings means you are uneducated, a heathen, unprofessional, dumb, incapable of doing the work you passed state boards to do? I don't think so, and maybe one of these days people will stand up for the rights to be able to be employed and still do what we want with our bodies. By the way I have never had even one patient complain to me or any of my supervisors about my piercing, in fact I got complimented on it even by the elderly people I cared for. Either that or they couldn't see well and thought my black diamond was a piece of glitter or a mole on my face.

rn/writer, RN · May 30, 2012

Hospitals and other healthcare facilities generally frown on visible/drastic body modifications for several reasons. Hygiene is certainly a factor, especially with multiple piercings. It's also a factor if you're asked to cover a tat and the covering can become a source of infection.

But there are other thoughts at work here. For much of the population, I would think small, innocuous tats and a handful of ear piercings wouldn't be too bothersome. But tongue, lip, nose and eyebrow piercings are another matter. So are sleeve tats and other highly visible markings. That's just a fact of life.

When I look at some of the piercings I've seen, all I can think of is pain. I don't think I'm in the minority. When I'm in a hospital bed and I see my nurse coming toward me, I don't to be distracted or put off by his or her appearance.

On the flip side, I'm a postpartum nurse and I am continually amazed at what is on the bodies of the women I care for. These patients run the gamut from high school kids with the latest and greatest tats and bling to business women, teachers, and other professionals. People you'd never guess were into body art have tramp stamps and all kinds of emblems under their conventional clothing.

So, I guess the moral of the story is that if you want to get good jobs and be taken seriously for promotion and other opportunities, don't do anything that can't be covered or camouflaged.

Right or wrong, anything but the mildest of body modification is treated as out of the main stream by the business and professional community, and that's not likely to change anytime soon.

aachavez · Jun 2, 2012

I have a couple tattoos, but they have to be covered, which is easily done for me. I was pretty bummed when I had to take out my nose ring. I know a few people that have to constatnly cover up with bandaids.

prettymica, ASN, BSN, MSN, LPN, RN, APRN, NP · Jun 3, 2012

I have 7 tattoos and a belly piercing( that I just got on my birthday). My tattoos are covered by my scrubs and I make it to 3rd quarter of nursing school before a teacher saw my inner wrist tattoo, that is usually covered by my watch.

twinmomstl · Jun 10, 2012

They just revised our dress code and tattoos are now allowed. I work at a peds hospital in a large city.

Robublind · Jun 12, 2012

You can have a tattoo, but if it is visible it is going to make get a job harder. Right now it isn't easy to find a job out of school with or without a tattoo. Search this site for "new grad" and you will get a ton of post...I cant find a job...

OwlieO.O · Oct 26, 2012

I hate to say it, but I will probably get mine removed. I have a half sleeve that goes to the superior-most part of my olecranon space. I have another, peony flower, on my upper left forearm. I hate that hospitals don't let nurses have tattoos. The hospital down the street from me doesn't allow tattoos that are visible, and yet they let their nurses smoke like no tomorrow. A tattoo doesn't affect the care the nurse gives (their personality does), and yet would you think that smelling cigarette smoke would be so terribly bothersome? I'd ask for a change of nurse if I was a patient and had a smoking nurse.

What really is unfortunate is that mine will take probably thousands of dollars to get removed. Oh well!