Nursing and tattoos

Nurses General Nursing

Published

  1. Do you have any tattoos?

    • 716
      No, never would
    • 525
      No, but would like to
    • 712
      Yes, but only one in a discreet area
    • 83
      Yes, but I wish I didn't
    • 990
      Yes, I have more than one, but less than ten
    • 132
      Yes, my body is a living canvas

1,962 members have participated

:D Just thought we needed a new poll...

i have one on my hip...nobody can see it

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I don't have any tatts but have no problem with them once they heal. My daughter has a neat one of the world with a peace sign overlay. I would rather she not have done it but only because she is MY daughter. I don't have any problem when they are other mothers' children. Guess it does not make sense, but there it is. There are some really beautiful ones but you have to have the right kind of skin to carry it off. I also think of the day when the skin bags and sags and a majestic eagle could look like a dead chicken.

Multiple piercings on the face really bother me. I also find myself staring at nose, eyebrows, lips where metal is hanging out. I can't imagine being 85 and staring up from a bed after breaking a hip to see metal dripping from someone's mouth. As a clinical instructor I refused to allow students in clinical experience with these. I never had to do anything more than tell students that I had that rule and would follow through.:rolleyes:

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I have 3, 2 on my back, 1 on my stomach.... I forget they are there sometimes...and with scubs on no one knows they are there

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Specializes in Geriatrics, ICU, OR, PACU.

I have four, and wish that I could remove all but three. If I'd known then, what I know now....

I never dreamed I'd be a nurse, and got three of the four in my early twenties. Two of them are just plain ugly, LOL, made so by the years that have gone by. One of them is nice, but why did I think unicorns were cool back then? It's huge, on one shoulder blade.

The only one I love (and can't cover, thank god) is a black tribal type armband on my left bicep. It's very delicate, and I got it for my 40th birthday. Everyone that I work with (even the regional managment company folks) has complimented me on it, and don't seem to have an issue with it.

But, I still wear a lab coat when the state surveyors show up, just for appearances, LOL!

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Specializes in ER,ICU,L+D,OR.

I'm 46 years old, and I am extensively and I should say expensively tattooed.The tattoos on my neck are pretty much covered by my hair. I wear a lab coat at work, not to hide my very visible arm tats, but because I like those extra pockets. A burn nurse calculated that I have tattoos on 47 percent of my body. Most are kept covered at work. However when in public, I love for my tats to be visible. I'm proud of them. I wear them proudly. I love all the looks I get. Very enjoyable.

I haven't even talked about my piercings, but that is another thread, I guess.

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I'm not a fan of tatoos, but to each his own. I'm just afraid that many, many individuals are going to regret it down the road. Don't forget that it's "IN" now, a fad that is being gobbled up by the masses, like so many other things which have come and gone. We're supposed to shave our bodies from top to bottom, wear piercings and cover our skin with tatoos. Believe me, in a few years many of these "fads" will have lost their appeal. At least two of the three aren't permanent!!:smackingf

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IDon't forget that it's "IN" now, a fad that is being gobbled up by the masses, like so many other things which have come and gone.

:)

"Tattooing has been a Eurasian practice at least since Neolithic times. Ötzi the Iceman, dating from the fourth to fifth millennium BC, was found in the Ötz valley in the Alps and had approximately 57 carbon tattoos consisting of simple dots and lines on his lower spine, behind his left knee, and on his right ankle."

If by 'now' you mean 6000-7000 years then sure, it's just a fad... ;) Oops, apparently they think he was what are to be considered ear piercings as well... :)

Tattooing has been around longer than every major religion AND society currently in existence... :smokin:

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:)

"Tattooing has been a Eurasian practice at least since Neolithic times. Ötzi the Iceman, dating from the fourth to fifth millennium BC, was found in the Ötz valley in the Alps and had approximately 57 carbon tattoos consisting of simple dots and lines on his lower spine, behind his left knee, and on his right ankle."

If by 'now' you mean 6000-7000 years then sure, it's just a fad... ;) Oops, apparently they think he was what are to be considered ear piercings as well... :)

Tattooing has been around longer than every major religion AND society currently in existence... :smokin:

Thanks for all the fun facts mister smarty pants-ha.:yeah: But I stick to my guns when I say that it is also a current fad for our society today, be it in the states or throughout europe. When I see a native of austrial for example with tatoo I find it really cool. It fits their culture and heritage. But when I see all the young people running out and spending money on tatoos just so that they can be one of the gang, well, it just doesn't fit in my opinion. It was never a part of the american culture until it became the latest fad, get what I mean? I bet in a few years things will calm down a bit, that's until the next fad rolls us over!:cool:

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Thanks for all the fun facts mister smarty pants-ha.:yeah: But I stick to my guns when I say that it is also a current fad for our society today, be it in the states or throughout europe. When I see a native of austrial for example with tatoo I find it really cool. It fits their culture and heritage. But when I see all the young people running out and spending money on tatoos just so that they can be one of the gang, well, it just doesn't fit in my opinion. It was never a part of the american culture until it became the latest fad, get what I mean? I bet in a few years things will calm down a bit, that's until the next fad rolls us over!:cool:

:) That's why advise 'hideable' tattoos... ;)

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Specializes in Hospice.

LOL, I posted about my tats 5 years ago, still have them, still love them. If my husband didn't mind I would get more. He's totally not into them. Plan on at least having them recolored when I get back home.

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I'm 46 years old, and I am extensively and I should say expensively tattooed.The tattoos on my neck are pretty much covered by my hair. I wear a lab coat at work, not to hide my very visible arm tats, but because I like those extra pockets. A burn nurse calculated that I have tattoos on 47 percent of my body. Most are kept covered at work. However when in public, I love for my tats to be visible. I'm proud of them. I wear them proudly. I love all the looks I get. Very enjoyable.

I haven't even talked about my piercings, but that is another thread, I guess.

I hope I'm not being rude when I say I just don't understand why so many people want to be looked at because of their tatoos. In a way it seems to be a mild way of provoking others? Some people think they look neat and others think they look demented. I just don't know why a person wants to be stared at in the first place I guess. In any case a person with lots of tatoos sure is an attention getter:weathersunsmall:.

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Specializes in Med Surg, Nursing Administration for SNF.
I hope I'm not being rude when I say I just don't understand why so many people want to be looked at because of their tatoos. In a way it seems to be a mild way of provoking others? Some people think they look neat and others think they look demented. I just don't know why a person wants to be stared at in the first place I guess. In any case a person with lots of tatoos sure is an attention getter:weathersunsmall:.

And what's wrong with attention? For me, (i have chinese symbols that read "cat karma" on the side of my neck) my tats are a statement that say to the world "this is me, take it or leave it" almost rebellion in nature. In fact, when tatooing got popular, I was a little dismayed. But - it is ok to be different AND to have different POV. :loveya:

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