Nursing and Tattoos

Nurses Professionalism

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Hello,

I am a nursing student about to finish up her last year of school. I have thought about getting a tattoo for a long time, and I am almost certain of the design and location. The tattoo would be on my left wrist, it would be a floral design, and it would take up about 4 or 5 inches of my arm. So, it would be moderately big and very colorful, but it would not be "offensive" at all. I am having trouble getting a straight answer on this one- many people tell me that I will be fine to get it and that I will still be hired, and still others tell me that many hospitals do not allow any visible tattoos. This is a tattoo that I have thought about for years and have a deep personal connection with. However, I do not want to get it if I will never get hired anywhere after I finish school! If anyone could give me advice, RN or not, it would be greatly appreciated.

P.S- I'm thinking of become a Psychiatric NP if that makes any difference.

Thank you!

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Specializes in OR, Nursing Professional Development.

If you do a search here for tattoos, you will find a wealth of opinions pretty much along the lines of what you've already been told. It's a personal decision you'll have to make with the knowledge of possible consequences. All of my tattoos are not visible when wearing scrubs.

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Specializes in NICU, ICU, PICU, Academia.

Many facilities will not allow visible tattoos. My daughter has a geometric design on her wrist and must wear long sleeves year round. Another friend was declines for a NICU position because her tattoo could not be covered.

Think long and hard about this- because, rightly or wrongly- it DOES impact jobs in the future. Moving it to a less obtrusive place seems like a reasonable accommodation.

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Specializes in Acute Care, Rehab, Palliative.

The reason you keep getting different answers is because different places have different policies. My work place has no trouble with tattoos. I have a few coworkers with large visible tatts.

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Specializes in ER, ICU.

If you aren't willing to cover it for work, get it closer to your core.

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Specializes in Ortho/Neuro (2yrs); Mom/Baby (6yrs); LDRPN (4+yr).

Really... it depends.

Some facilities are super strict about NO visible tattoos, some are more lenient as long as they aren't offensive. Sometimes it's left up to the individual unit managers to decide if they'll allow it. I've heard of some psych units being more flexible with them as they provide a conversation point with the patients and can give the nurse a less authoritarian look to them, making the patients more comfortable with them.

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Thank you so much for all of your feedback. I think I am going to get it, as I am totally willing to wear long sleeves every day if I have to. I understand that they can be unprofessional in the hospital setting. Do most facilities allow you to have them as long as you wear long sleeves?

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Specializes in OR, Nursing Professional Development.

Some facilities do not allow long sleeves as an infection control measure.

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Frankly, I think the smarter move would be to finish school and get your first job THEN get your tattoo to celebrate.

Side note: long sleeves must be pushed up in many facilities including mine.

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It all depends on where you're working.

The hospital I work for doesn't allow any visible tattoos. This was after allowing full sleeves for years. They changed the rules a couple years ago and one of my friends was furious. She's got 10+ experience as an RN, but could have been disciplined for showing her sleeves.

Now everyone has to cover up with undershirts or whatever.

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