Nurses with tattoos and piercings

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I am going to begin nursing school next year. I went to a tour of the school and asked a current student if tattoos and piercings are allowed. He said yes because theres a girl that attends the school and she is covered in tattoos. He said the tattoo being visible is better than it being covered with a bandage especially if you have tattoos on your wrist. Patients dont want a nurse with her wrist wrapped up. I agreed and thought he made a good point. I have a lip ring above my lip which if i have to am willing to take out and I have a couple ear piercings. I have a tattoo on my arm which would be covered with scrubs. I just really love tattoos and would love to have more. I always figured it would not matter since hospitals are always freezing can't I just wear a long sleeve shirt under my scrubs? I have seen doctors with tattoo sleeves in the area I live and nurses have told someone I know that they are allowed but I hear a lot of people tell me they are not. Thank you :)

Specializes in Critical Care; Cardiac; Professional Development.
What is the problem with visible skin invasion? Tattoos and piercings in the 21st century are the most hygienic in all of history. So long as there is no broken skin, Grandma doesn't care how you change her dressings. Individual use of one's own body is your choice. And to hide it is a civil violation. So long as it doesn't hurt anyone else. Ex: "I'm a nurse, and my tattoo says I won't give you the best care possible, cause I have a tattoo,cause it's a unicorn."

This literally made me laugh out loud. There are no laws protecting the "right" to work with body art showing. None.

You absolutely have the right to decorate your body however you wish, right, wrong or indifferent. Others absolutely have the right to form opinions about and react to it, right, wrong or indifferent. As of 2014, the professional sector tends to be less favorable toward visible body art. It has changed a lot, I grant you, but facial piercings, full sleeves and such are viewed by older populations (and some not so old) as being at best unattractive and unsightly and at worst as indicative of a lack of hygiene or trustworthiness. Whether these things are true are not important. This is the day and age of reimbursement being determined by patient satisfaction, a business largely based on perception. Older people in particular (and the crux of hospital patient populations) tend to view people with body art unfavorably. If a patient would potentially be dissatisfied with a self decorated nurse caring for them, then that means the hospitals will be reluctant to hire self decorated nurses. It is a reality of healthcare and one that has to be considered both prior to obtaining expensive body art that is visible in scrubs and frankly prior to considering a career in healthcare. If body art is important to you, this may not be the best fit career-wise. Best care scenario, you have to plan on having fewer opportunities than your undecorated (or less visibly decorated) colleagues. Worst case scenario, you can't find work at all. Frankly, this is true is most all professional sectors, not just in healthcare.

I have a tattoo on my inner forearm and if I am not wearing long sleeves it definitely shows. Nobody has had a problem with it thus far, but I accept there may be places unwilling to excuse it. I knew that when I got it and made an educated decision about it. I encourage all body art enthusiasts to do the same.

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Have any of you guys at your facilities see women nurses with nose rings? Not the hoop kind but little studs?

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Specializes in Acute Care, Rehab, Palliative.

Lots.One of our docs has particularly stunning diamond.

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Specializes in Critical Care; Cardiac; Professional Development.

I have seen a lot of tiny nose studs.

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I think that would really depend on the institution emmy. Some of them allows tatoos and piercings while some are not. Your best move would be asking questions on the vicinity.Though I find tats interesting, I don't have enough courage to have one.:)

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I've never seen a nursing school allow tats or piercings (beyond the normal one set of conservative studs in the earlobe). However, even in my conservative town's county hospital, there are tons of nurses running around with extra sets of lobe piercings, nose studs, tragus piercings, and helix piercings (upper ear cartilage). I've also seen plenty with tattoos that show. As long as those with tats and piercings present themselves in a clean, neat, and professional manner, the NMs and patients don't seem to have any issues with it, and it is not specifically addressed in the dress code of the facility.

Now whether it SHOULD be allowed is, as Mrs. DirtyBird said, a very well-beaten dead horse that I shall not touch again xD.

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What is the problem with visible skin invasion? Tattoos and piercings in the 21st century are the most hygienic in all of history. So long as there is no broken skin, Grandma doesn't care how you change her dressings. Individual use of one's own body is your choice. And to hide it is a civil violation. So long as it doesn't hurt anyone else. Ex: "I'm a nurse, and my tattoo says I won't give you the best care possible, cause I have a tattoo,cause it's a unicorn."

You don't have to like it, and you don't have to agree with it, and you can think you're being discriminated against for irrational reasons, but I am gonna tell you anyway: Grandma may well not want you to change her dressings if you have visible ink (at least I think that's what you were referring to-- a lot of incomplete sentences and ideas in your post). Mom and Dad may not want you to care for their critically-ill child if you have a dragon on your arm. Any patient can refuse care from any person; that is his right.

Your hospital may have a rule against visible ink or facial hardware and not allow a sports band over that butterfly on your wrist for the same reason it doesn't allow long sleeves, for infection control. This has nothing to do with the lack of infection at the tattoo site.

There is no "civil violation in hiding it," by which I think you meant that it would be against some sort of law if an employer or school asks you to hide it. No, it isn't. You have the right to decorate yourself as you see fit, but they have the right to say you can't do it at their place.

You may find yourself working in a place with a lot of inked patients and a lot of facial piercings in the staffers and nobody cares. But while you are in school, maybe they will care quite a bit. There is no point in arguing about it.

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Specializes in critical care.
Nowhere in the constitution does it state you have a civil right to tattoos. Hospitals can enforce a dress code.

There was a woman in my CNA class who said this exact thing - that it was discrimination to not allow tats and that it violated her rights. That is seriously the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard. You have the right to do what you want with your own body. Your employer has the right to not like it. Suck it up!

And for full disclosure, I've had so many things pierced and I have tattoos as well. I have removed my piercings due to skin sensitivities, but ultimately I knew people might judge me for having them. The impression you make on people WILL be largely influenced by how you present yourself. Maybe it doesn't seem fair, but that doesn't make it any less true.

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nurses and all people for that matter have the right to decorate their skin and body parts in any way they deem fit. tattoos and piercings are a form of expression that no person should be able to take from you. That being said, I think there are plenty of situations were jewelry of any kind, including piercings, could be considered a hazard.are most policies banning piercings and tattoos consistent from hospital to hospital or do they vary?

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nurses and all people for that matter have the right to decorate their skin and body parts in any way they deem fit. tattoos and piercings are a form of expression that no person should be able to take from you. That being said, I think there are plenty of situations were jewelry of any kind, including piercings, could be considered a hazard.are most policies banning piercings and tattoos consistent from hospital to hospital or do they vary?

You are definitely free to tattoo and pierce your body to your heart's content. But, you should pick a more lenient job or career. It really is not much different than those who wish to continue using recreational drugs and don't believe they should be forced to take drug tests. If you are in one of the "at will" work states, nothing more needs to be said. Even with a union, rarely will it go against a written dress code policy

We also have cigarette smoking as something an employer can test you for and refuse to hire you. I have also heard some hospitals are pushing the BMI standard for hiring as well. It would really suck to be a smoker with visible tattoos and a BMI >35 in some parts of this country.

As a traveler and per diem worker, most of the agencies want their employees in compliance with the strictest of dress codes to fit in with the hospitals which are now enforcing their standards. A large part of it is due to the increased penalties by CMS for infections. The other part is the abundance of applicants without tattoos and piercings.

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Specializes in critical care.
You are definitely free to tattoo and pierce your body to your heart's content. But you should pick a more lenient job or career. It really is not much different than those who wish to continue using recreational drugs and don't believe they should be forced to take drug tests. If you are in one of the "at will" work states, nothing more needs to be said. Even with a union, rarely will it go against a written dress code policy We also have cigarette smoking as something an employer can test you for and refuse to hire you. I have also heard some hospitals are pushing the BMI standard for hiring as well. It would really suck to be a smoker with visible tattoos and a BMI >35 in some parts of this country. As a traveler and per diem worker, most of the agencies want their employees in compliance with the strictest of dress codes to fit in with the hospitals which are now enforcing their standards. A large part of it is due to the increased penalties by CMS for infections. The other part is the abundance of applicants without tattoos and piercings.[/quote']

Forgive the redirection of the thread for this comment, but.....

I'm very much on the fence about testing for cigarette smoking, but I will tell you if I am a patient and I smell smoke on a person who is part of my care, it makes me want to get up and leave. I understand the addictiveness of smoking and how hard it is to quit, but I still can't wrap my mind around healthcare workers smoking, or at the very least, having the smell of smoke on them when they are working with patients.

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Thanks to the people that actually answered my question without the negative opinions thrown in there. And my nursing school is the only faith based one in my area and is a very nice school

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