So 4 weeks ago I started my first semester of nursing school. I got accepted into the program in November and had orientation on December 16. The head of the nursing department was the one holding the orientation. Now, I have tattoos on my left wrist- 2 small black Kanji tattoos that are close to my hand on my inner wrist and the second is a floral band that wraps all around my wrist above the Kanji tattoos. I was very nervous to show her them, because I knew they have a strict no visible tattoo policy. I showed her my tattoos and she said to cover the floral one with a watch that has a wide, stretchy band and cover the other ones with Dermablend for clinicals. She made me feel better about the tattoos so I registered for classes and paid my tuition. I bought my books, supplies, and uniform. I bought Dermablend to cover my tattoos. Spent about $3,000 for the semester all in all, not to mention all the money I spent on pre-req's. All I had to do was wait for classes to start.
Fast forward to Week 3 of NS and we have our first skills test, and there is a major problem with covering my tattoos. The Dermablend did NOT work. Neither did any of the other products I bought to cover my tattoos. My instructors wouldn't even let me test for hand washing. After my second attempt at trying to cover the tattoos and take the test, my instructor took me to the head of the nursing department. She didn't remember me at first, but then she remembered seeing my tattoos at orientation. She insisted that Dermabland has worked for other students in the past, so it should work for me. I told her I have tried everything I could to cover them and nothing worked. She wouldn't let me use a band-aid for the smaller tattoos, wear long sleeves, wear a lab coat, nothing. Just make-up and if I couldn't cover up my tattoos with make up then I couldn't continue in the program. She said it's the clinical site's policy to not allow visible tattoos, not the college's. So I cannot continue in the program and I'm out.
Now, I believe she should have told me when she saw my tattoos that were going to be a problem. She also never told me I had to cover them during testing, only at clinical. Should I just let the matter drop and take a loss or fight back and try to get some of my tuition money back? Any thoughts, suggestions? I know there are nurses out there that have tattoos, even if they are covered under long sleeves.
please fight this! get lawyers or the local newspapers involved. no one wants bad press and no one has the right to tell you that you aren't allowed to wear a band aid! i'm in a program in florida and we can wear long sleeves under our uniform shirts. people with tattoos were told to use band aids to cover their tattoos. there are employees at the hospital we're doing clinicals at right now who have tattoos on their hands and don't cover them up! i hope you can fight this and get back in the program. good luck.
I would think having bandages constantly on your wrists would be an infection control issue. I don't know about you, but I usually wash up to my forearms or elbows. As if you're going to wear a bandaid for the next 50 years anyway?? They seriously need to get a grip.
Honestly, I really hate tatoos. When I see them I cringe. Having said that, I know that is my problem, not the person who has them. It's my prejudice and I know it is something that was taught to me. I think nurses work to overcome prejudices in our culture, not perpetuate them. What if the policy was against dark skin, light skin, religion, etc. then it would not be OK.
Sounds like discrimination to me...might want to check your school's policy on discrimination. You may have a good case.
Actually tattoos, chosen body modifications, apperance, are not protected classes. Protected classes for descrimination are race, religion, gender, age, disabilities. Employers do have the right to say they will not employ someone with visible tattoos/non natural hair color/facial piercings. With nursing school it comes down to working in a hospital while in clinical, so hospital employment standards are applyed to us in nursing school. Even though the hospital may not be as strict with thier own policy as the school is, as long as it is evenly applyed at the school, there is no case for discrimination.
It doesn't sound like they were trying to protect themselves from anything, it sounds like they just wanted your money. That's awful. If I were you I would seriously consider speaking with a lawyer.
That it does sound like, unless the individual honestly didn't understand how difficult such a tattoo would be to cover. Hopefully you can get all your tuition money back since you were mislead after being upfront about your tattoos.
I dont understand why coverup makeup doesnt work on you but it does on others.
First black is a very difficult to cover color. Most coverup makeups do not have the pigmentation to cover it well, so color tattoos are easier to cover then solid black ones to start. And if they do cover well, on the wrist close to the hand where one has to wash many many times a day in healthcare, makeup will wash off, not to mention that the inner wrist is a place that will rub on everything while doing things so even when not activly washing you will gradually rub the makeup off (even just look at while you are typing, your hand is probably pivoting off your inner wrist). Its like when someone wears makeup, why does foundation/eye makeup probably only need put on once during the day, but lipstick will need to be reapplied many times?...Moisture, and friction.
I was not talking from a legal standpoint. I meant from a moral standpoint, "Is it right to be prejudice?" For example at my school the prejudice is not tattoos, it is students that fail once and come back to try a second time. I watch these students get harrassed and bullied by the profs till they fail again. The profs are concerned that they won't pass the N-Clex the first time and will ruin the 98% average. So tatoos, piercings, unnatractive, overweight, 2nd time students....there are many many prejudice situations that we face in nursing that are not covered legally. Yet it still exists.
I was not talking from a legal standpoint. I meant from a moral standpoint, "Is it right to be prejudice?" For example at my school the prejudice is not tattoos, it is students that fail once and come back to try a second time. I watch these students get harrassed and bullied by the profs till they fail again. The profs are concerned that they won't pass the N-Clex the first time and will ruin the 98% average. So tatoos, piercings, unnatractive, overweight, 2nd time students....there are many many prejudice situations that we face in nursing that are not covered legally. Yet it still exists.
Oh i know where you were coming from, I was just addressing the one that said to look at the schools discrimination policy as they may have a case for discrimination.....that was talking about from a legal standpoint.
I'm not saying it is right, however until our society is more liberal about such things, one does have to put thought into where they put tattoos and if they can be covered unless they are assured a possition indefinitly where tattoos will be generally accepted. Even the tattoo artist that did one of my tattoos only had tattoos where he could wear a short sleeve shirt and shorts with none being visable, in case he ever had to work a job that required short sleeves and to still look professional, and he had some awesome tattoos. People will judge people, especially based on first impression. That is something my dad who works HR has always stressed to me. Going back to the tattoo artist that had sevaral very large tattoos but you could meet him when he is wearing shorts and a tshirt, as someone that cringes at tattoos, you wouldnt think that he had him, so your first impression wouldnt include that, and if you later found out that he had tattoos it wouldn't affect you so much as to how you felt about him as it would have had it been your first impression of him.
And with tattoos in nursing, unfortunately most patients we will encounter will be older, and older patients are still of a generation that tattoos were mostly only common with people that were in the military (mostly navy i think), and people that were involved in illegal/immoral activities (and quite possibly been in prison). We do have to be understanding of that, and patients impressions of us if we are going in with tattoos. Yes they are very mainstream now........but they still arent mainstream for the population that will be our largest patient base at this point in time...and that can affect how they feel about us, how seriously they take us, and the trust they are willing to put in us as a health care professional.
Tattoo's.. a permanent reminder of a temporary feeling...
Yeah nursing schools are at the mercy of the hospitals they clinical at. With clinical space so competitive, last thing they need is someone causing a problem with a tattoo. Knew it had to be covered. Should have covered it.
I had to shave my beard. So be the rules of the nursing school.
Geez, I've worked with heaps of blokes with beards, really really long ones too.
Some of you US nurses that come over to Oz, must get the shock of your life when you see some of the Oz nurses. I mean, we have standards, but no where near as strict on appearance as what you guys seem to be (not in the places where I've worked anyway).
I think the problem isn't that the school is worried about your ability to get a job at local hospitals and more that they can't allow a student in clinicals to break a written hospital rule.
Hi everyone,
Thanks for all the advice and suggestions! I withdrew from class, as I talked with the VP of health professions and he said there was nothing I could do about covering the tattoos other than using make-up. It really angers me because he said this has happened to other students. I also talked to a college adviser and he told me a story about a guy that had tattoo sleeves on both arms and tattoos on both hands and the nursing department clearly knew there was no way he could cover all those tattoos according to their uniform policy- no long sleeves. They let him register for class and pay his tuition. A week into class they pulled him aside and told him he could no longer continue. It seems like they want to protect themselves against discrimination by allowing us to enroll in the program and then after we discover we have no way to cover the tattoos, they kick us out. I was told by my college adviser to write a letter to the president of the college and inform him of what is happening because he might not even be aware that this is going on. It might not change anything, but I will feel better that he knows.
My college adviser told me he has secretly asked around at the local hospitals about this matter because so many students are having a problem and a lot of the hospitals around here have a no visible tattoo policy, but they are not enforced. I just have to get through nursing school to find a hospital that will hire me, even if I have a hard time finding one. I think that should be my problem, not the school's.
Tattoo removal is not an option for me at this point. Maybe in the future I will be able to save up and pay the $2000 that it will take to have them removed.
In the meantime, I have to be put an appeal in to try and get my tuition back. Of course I will have to take a loss on all the money I've spent on supplies and the $1000 I spent in books, but a little money back is better than nothing. I'm looking into other schools in my area and their tattoo policies. I may even have to go for my LPN instead of my RN as the LPN school in my area is less strict in their tattoo policy.
Thanks again, and thank you for reading if you got this far! )
Sounds like discrimination to me...might want to check your school's policy on discrimination. You may have a good case.
Tattoos are not covered under any discrimination act or policy. Nobody is born with tattoos nor are they are disability or deserving of any kind of special treatment or accommodations. Tattoos are a choice and frankly, people should think long and hard about how having a visible tattoo is going to affect their future before committing to them.
That is not to say I'm not sorry you're going through this. There has got to be SOMETHING out there that will work to cover them up!! I think it's ridiculous they didn't let you take the test.. but I do understand why the clinical site would advise against them. Personally, I like tattoos, but many, many people jump to conclusions about them and would be very uncomfortable with a HCP covered in tattoos taking care of them. (not to say you are covered in them, but I've seen people with tats up to their chin and ears before.) If you choose the visable tattoo route, you may very well be limiting yourself as far as careers go. It's sucks, but is true.
Chrissy, have you tried the tattoo concealer from hard candy? It is $6 at Walmart and I can cover my black work with it.
The school should have been up front with you. That said, the posts blaming a teacher for this are silly. This is a decision made by clinical sites. If you want clinical slots, you obey their rules. I am a nursing instructor with tattoos (not visible) and piercings (visible), and I also must cover my piercings per facility policy. In clinical practice, each hospital varies. For example, I would not likely work at my local Catholic hospital as they are strict, but love working in the county hospital's ER, where I am one of the least pierced/tattoed staff members :)
Also, think carefully about your career before making body changes. For example, I love the look of wrist piercings, but they aren't practical as they would interfere with gloving & the constant friction would probably make them more likely to reject.
How much more upfront could the school be really? The director told her the tats needed to be covered and gave her some pointers on how to cover them. At that point, it really is up to the student to make sure the tattoos get covered...
I also have to wonder how bad the OP wants this. You seem to have given up without much of a fight. With the difficulty people are having getting into a program in the first place, you would think you'd have come up with a solution long before classes began. (especially knowing the dress code policies up front)
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I think it's ridiculous they didn't let you take the test.. but I do understand why the clinical site would advise against them. Personally, I like tattoos, but many, many people jump to conclusions about them and would be very uncomfortable with a HCP covered in tattoos taking care of them. (not to say you are covered in them, but I've seen people with tats up to their chin and ears before.) If you choose the visable tattoo route, you may very well be limiting yourself as far as careers go. It's sucks, but is true.
meltnpointofwax
189 Posts
please fight this! get lawyers or the local newspapers involved. no one wants bad press and no one has the right to tell you that you aren't allowed to wear a band aid! i'm in a program in florida and we can wear long sleeves under our uniform shirts. people with tattoos were told to use band aids to cover their tattoos. there are employees at the hospital we're doing clinicals at right now who have tattoos on their hands and don't cover them up! i hope you can fight this and get back in the program. good luck.