art24

I am a student nurse currently in my first semester. When I was 14, I chose very poor coping mechanisms to deal with overwhelming emotions from a childhood trauma. I am now 24, and although those issues are very much in my past, I still have very obvious (very obviously old) self-harm scars on my arms. I am concerned about what my instructors and other nurses might think of my ability to be a nurse if they see the scars. Even more so, I am afraid that the scars might frighten or raise questions from my patients. We have been allowed to wear long sleeves in clinical, and so far I have been able to hide my scars. I know that will not always be possible because long-sleeves could pose and infection risk. Any advice on attitudes toward the scars that I might encounter? I know that there is little understanding for self-harm among people in the medical profession. Do I continue hiding the scars or should I let them show so people know that it is no longer an issue? Are there any other student nurses or nurses that have dealt with this or have seen nurses in the workplace with self-harm scars? Is there a lot of discrimination towards them? Thank for any advice!