Question about gauged ears.

amoLucia · Apr 28, 2012

I had no idea what you were talking about until I read some of the other posts. If you're cool with it...fine. But if you're expecting professional respect...not even all of your peers, much less all of the public (healthy and otherwise) are ok. Bizarre makeup (ie. goth lipstick & blackened eyes), kaleidiscope & daggered fingernails, fluorescent streaked hair or freaky haircuts, nose, lip & eyebrow piercings, etc all pose acceptance problems. And take this from a woman with almost 40 years of practice who has 5 ear piercings in my left ear and 4 in my right. Although I wear itty bitty pearl studs and tiny rings, I have changed them out for interviews. Just a thought...might not instructors (or employers) have an unconscious bias that could result in a lower grade or evaluation of your practice?? It's a possibilty I would think about. Also might they have to intervene with a frightened or concerned pt (like I once did for an African immigrant nurse with extensive tribal facial keloidal scarrings)? If you have to ask, you must have some misgivings, too.

Katie71275 · Apr 29, 2012

To me it looks unprofessional. They are not allowed in our program. However, I recently saw an ER doc with guaged ears..Very odd!..it definitely surprised me!

RLtinker, LPN · Apr 29, 2012

ingeneral, nursing schools are extremely conservative. tattoos and facial pricing susually have to be hidden as well. we are expected to present ourselves in a professional manner.

BellaInBlueScrubsRN · Apr 30, 2012

Our hospital policy is 2 earring per ear and no facial piercings. It doesn't go into more detail than that. Nursing school is stricter, but they would most likely tell you to take out the guages (you can right?) or wear a more discreet one.

on eagles wings, ASN, RN · Apr 30, 2012

hey i had those when i was a teen, took them out way before i started nursing school. i was an artsy kid and i got funky looks from all the old people around the block. imagine a nurse in a hospital. it just doesn't look clean-cut, professional, or healthy. i mean personally i wouldn't care if i had a nurse with plugs, but i know some patients feel like that is too "wild" and might have bad ideas about you, like you do drugs or something, lol. i never did drugs once and i knew people thought that about me. so just keep in mind you'll be dealing with a lot of kinds of people and will get very involved in their lives. you want to leave a good image and impression on patients and their families... good luck =)

on eagles wings, ASN, RN · Apr 30, 2012

btw... my nursing school is anything but conservative, a massive CC in downtown miami... students have tats and facial piercings... hospital however is completely different

Pneumothorax, BSN, RN · Apr 30, 2012

btw... my nursing school is anything but conservative, a massive CC in downtown miami... students have tats and facial piercings... hospital however is completely different

Wolfson Campus or Medical Center Campus hahahah....

did my first 2 yrs of college at WOlfson :)

on eagles wings, ASN, RN · Apr 30, 2012

Medical! :) But I did many of my prereqs at Wolfson! no wonder i liked you hahaha

Sand_Dollar, BSN · Apr 30, 2012

I just got hired on at a big teaching hospital and in their dress code they consider gauged ears to be 'unacceptable'.

Meriwhen, ASN, BSN, MSN, RN · Apr 30, 2012

I'm not sure if this has been asked before but what are nursing school policies on having your ears gauged?
And do most hospitals have any policies against nurses having them?
I'm currently a phlebotomist and have never had any problems with my ears being gauged before even during school and clinicals.

I think policies can vary widely between nursing schools as well as hospitals, so you should check with the specific school/hospital for the most accurate answers. From my experience, both schools hospitals both generally tend towards conservative looks (i.e., minimal to no jewelry and frown upon body modification), for appearances as well as safety reasons. After all, if there's no dangling earrings or gauged ears, there's nothing that can be ripped out or cause damage to the ear.

But again, it's your school/hospital that will have the final say.

Also keep in mind that just because something may fly in nursing school doesn't mean that it will at the hospital, and vice-versa.

aachavez · May 1, 2012

I'm 26, and never could understand the appeal of the gauged ear holes. Looks kinda gross if you ask me.

My school also has pretty strict rules about appearance, one ring, 1 pair of stud earrings, med alert tag, all tattoos must be covered, hair should be a natural color, makeup is neutral, nails must be clean and short, no polish. I really doubt the gauged ears would be allowed. I was so bummed on the first day of school when I had to take out my nose stud... I miss it.

FitMommyRN · May 1, 2012

I'm assuming if you use plugs instead of the rings then the hospital may never know. I'm covered in tattoos and just wear a long sleeve shirt under my scrubs. I remove my nose ring for clinicals and check offs. I've encountered nothing but warmhearted curiosity from the faculty during lectures and lab practice; however, if I showed up for clinical or a check off with anything showing I'd get a tongue lashing. Tattoos, piercings, and gauged ears are not professional. It's as simple as that. If you can cover or hide them, you're good to go. I may be the greatest nurse in the history of the profession, but if somebody sees my chest piece peeking out of the v-neck on my scrubs, they'll assume I'm incapable of handling the job.

We made the choice. Thankfully we don't have facial, knuckle, or neck tattoos right? Daily use of dermablend before shifts would be a b*tch. Get yourself some flesh colored plugs and let other people's judgement be based on capability and not appearance. Maybe, in the distant future, when 50% of our patients have tattoos and piercings, things will be different. For now, we can't let our freak flags fly in the workplace.