Nursing Tattoo

Laboratorian · Apr 20, 2011

Caduceus; more artistic

TheCommuter, BSN, RN · Apr 20, 2011

You can view my opinion as a grain of salt, but I would seriously work for at least one year as an RN before getting a healthcare-related tattoo. School is one thing, and many students are convinced that they love nursing during their time in school, but you might very well regret receiving that tattoo if you do not like the stressors and politics of real world nursing. Some people love being an RN, and others are looking for the nearest exit door. Most new nurses leave their first job within a year or two due to stress, burnout, poor working conditions, disillusionment, and other factors.

The role of the nursing student is absolutely nothing compared to that of the nurse. It would be sad if you prematurely became inked with the desire to remove the tattoo at a later date.

flyingchange · Apr 20, 2011

I actually have a super pet peeve with companies and depictions of the caduceus as the official symbol for healing arts - see the Wikipedia article for more info, but here's the gist:

- The rod of Asclepius is the dominant symbol for healthcare professionals and associations in the United States. One survey found that 62% of healthcare professionals used the rod of Asclepius, while 76% of commercial healthcare organizations used the caduceus.

- The initial errors leading to its [Caduceus] adoption and the continuing confusion it generates are well known to medical historians. The long-standing and abundantly attested historical associations of the caduceus with commerce, theft, deception, and death are considered by many to be inappropriate in a symbol used by those engaged in the healing arts.[22] This has occasioned significant criticism of the use of the caduceus in a medical context.

“As god of the high-road and the market-place Hermes was perhaps above all else the patron of commerce and the fat purse: as a corollary, he was the special protector of the traveling salesman. As spokesman for the gods, he not only brought peace on earth (occasionally even the peace of death), but his silver-tongued eloquence could always make the worse appear the better cause. From this latter point of view, would not his symbol be suitable for certain Congressmen, all medical quacks, book agents and purveyors of vacuum cleaners, rather than for the straight-thinking, straight-speaking therapeutist? As conductor of the dead to their subterranean abode, his emblem would seem more appropriate on a heorifice than on a physician's car.”

AirforceRN, RN · Apr 20, 2011

Agree with the above...

My two cents...if you do your research you will find that the caduceus really has no (historical) link to the medical world. The rod of Asclepius is the one you are looking for if you really want a medical symbol.

On my shoulder....

http://img705.imageshack.us/i/dsc00053v.jpg/

merlee · Apr 20, 2011

Why bother in the first place? Who will see it? Most facilities require tattoos to be covered when possible.

Please look at the tattoos of people in their 60s and 70s. Not so pretty.

Do yourself a favor, get a keychain instead.

himilayaneyes · Apr 20, 2011

I personally don't see the point in getting a tat r/t nursing. I'd wait a year or two to see if you still like nursing that much. Not to mention most employers require that tatoos be covered. Some men I've encountered have tats all over their bodies and thus have to come to work in long sleeves and turtle necks...at least they're warm I guess. I agree with the previous poster....get a keychain instead.

ChristineN, BSN, RN · Apr 20, 2011

One of my nurse friends has a tattoo of a red cross. It's very nice and she has never regretted it.

johnny depp23 · Apr 20, 2011

Don't get a tattoo is the best advice I can give. You will regret it in the future

nursej22, MSN, RN · Apr 20, 2011

Check out this thread on nursing tattoos:

https://allnurses.com/general-nursing-discussion/ancient-nursing-symbols-92808.html

You might consider a replica of your school's pin or of Florence's lamp.

RHIA, RN · Apr 20, 2011

Don't get a tattoo is the best advice I can give. You will regret it in the future

I got my first tattoo about 11 years ago and few more since then. I don't regret them.

Blackcat99 · Apr 20, 2011

I got my first tattoo about 11 years ago and few more since then. I don't regret them.

How many people regret getting a tattoo? According to the American Society of Dermatological Surgery, over 50% of everyone receiving a tattoo wants it removed.