Sanitary covering of tattoos for the workplace?

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Hey guys, so I made a post about my vibrantly colored sleeve about 6 months ago. Currently I'm a student working on my associates degree in nursing (I haven't made it into the program yet, but next semester I'm starting my CNA clinicals).

I'm proud of my tattoo and what it represents, but just like I chose to get a tattoo I'm choosing to be a nurse, and so I'm choosing to adopt nursing standards of professionalism, so in this way it's really important to me to figure out viable ways to cover up my tattoo regardless of where I work.

Obviously long sleeves will be a must, but with starting my CNA clinicals I'm sure there will be times when I'll be elbow deep in excrement. I know there will be moments where I'll need to roll up those long sleeves. In this case, I've looked into investing in tattoo covering makeup in addition to the long sleeves.

But I want to make sure these are viable options - someone told me that they had been told (see how reliable this info is already?) that in some hospitals long sleeves are considered unsanitary. Is this the norm? I know it's not true universally because I see nurses all the time wearing long sleeves.

But the makeup... The best stuff for covering tattoos I've found, I did research on reviews and such - it's described as feeling sticky and rubbing off a bit on tights or clothing throughout the day. So would this be a sanitation issue? The only time I see this mattering is when I roll my sleeves up to clean a patient.

I dunno, I just want to make sure that I represent my place of employment well, make patients feel comfortable, and make sure I'm set up to be successful regardless of my carefree glory days :p.

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I don't have an answer for you, I just wanted to commend you on being responsible and professional when so many other members of society want other people to conform to their choices. I have no problems with tattoos, but people need to understand what their decisions mean and if they believe enough in what they want should be ready to live with their decisions. Best of luck with your nursing program.

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Specializes in Home Care.

One of the CNAs I work with is covered in tattoos, he doesn't cover any of them. Nobody cares.

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Thanks one2gofst :)

And itsmejuli - I'm sure there will be plenty of work environments where employment wont care, which I actually think is probably a positive thing, but it's something that would bother me. My sleeve gave me, and gives me confidence in social settings but I lose confidence because of it in working environments, and for that reason alone it's something I would want to cover up. Aside from that - the clinicals will be a school sanctioned function and they are curraaaazy strict with the tats and the piercings so if nothing else, I've got to figure out a viable way to cover it up for the next two and a half years :p.

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Let's think about this for a moment.

You are planning on, every time you go to clinicals, covering your tattoo with makeup, followed by a long-sleeved shirt, in the event you have to roll up your shirt sleeves to do some personal care. Will you not have to wash your wrists and forearms? What happens when the makeup comes off? Do you think the makeup will stay on under your shirt sleeves? If you wear short sleeves, I think the makeup is going to rub off every time you touch someone. Try walking around with zinc oxide on your arms for a day...see where all that white stuff ends up. That's what your tattoo-covering make up is going to do. It's going to be a royal mess.

I think the make up is overkill, unrealistic, and impractical. I suppose if you wanted, you could cover with a dressing each morning, and then tear the dressing off and apply a new one after providing some sort of care that would include being elbow deep in something. That is going to be cleaner and probably ultimately cheaper than having tattoo-covering make up.

The long sleeves will be sufficient. I have never heard of a hospital that does not allow long sleeves; I'm guessing those facilities are few and far between.

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Specializes in Tele Step Down, Oncology, ICU, Med/Surg.

My co-preceptee from another nursing school kept her tat covered with curlex, she always kept a stray roll in her pocket to recover. Jobs are hard to find in our neck of the woods so she was very motivated to make and keep a good impression with the staff so she was highly motivated to keep it covered. Her Kurlex wrap always looked fresh. She wore long sleeves but kept them shoved up to her elbows most times. You could see a little of the floral in her elbow area when she was moving, but it stayed covered when she was just hanging out at the nursing station. I think everyone thought she had carpal tunnel tho, lol.

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Specializes in Psych, Med/Surg, LTC.

ace bandage? You can wash it every day and not have to worry about make-up wearing off onto clothes or getting where it doesn't belong. I would wait until AFTER you land a job to get it done, though. It seems as though lots of professional people have visible tats now a days. I don't think it will be that much of an issue. Tats aren't for me, but eh, they certainly don't bother me on other people as long as they aren't violent/death related looking ones. I don't think many people would say anything. But, do yourself the favor and finish school first. Who knows, some teachers look for ANY reason to boot someone out of a program. Don't give them an easy reason, such as "unprofessional appearance". Let it be your graduation present to yourself. ;) I hope you find a tat you love!

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Specializes in pulm/cardiology pcu, surgical onc.

I keep my sleeve covered with just a 3/4 sleeve tee so I can wash up over my wrists. I"ve been in healthcare for 20 yrs with at least 10 of those as a CNA and I've seen some horrific messes but never been covered up to my elbows. If I do run into a bad scene with lots of stuff I tend to put on an isolation gown to keep all of me clean for the rest of my shift.

And FWIW I do wear shortsleeves occ during hot days and haven't heard any complaints from management plus tons of compliments from staff/patients.

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Specializes in pulm/cardiology pcu, surgical onc.
ace bandage? You can wash it every day and not have to worry about make-up wearing off onto clothes or getting where it doesn't belong. I would wait until AFTER you land a job to get it done, though. It seems as though lots of professional people have visible tats now a days. I don't think it will be that much of an issue. Tats aren't for me, but eh, they certainly don't bother me on other people as long as they aren't violent/death related looking ones. I don't think many people would say anything. But, do yourself the favor and finish school first. Who knows, some teachers look for ANY reason to boot someone out of a program. Don't give them an easy reason, such as "unprofessional appearance". Let it be your graduation present to yourself. ;) I hope you find a tat you love!

He already has a tat per his/her OP.

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I do not have any tattoos, but I have just started my Nurse Aide I class and during our first class meeting it was stated that any tattoos must be covered during clinicals and then the instructor asked if anyone had any wrist or neck tattoos that needed covering, the implication being that if the answer was yes they would chat with that person to give advice on how to go about doing so. This is evidently a pretty common occurrence and it sounds like the instructors know what to do. No one in my class had the aforementioned types or I would share what was said. Good luck!

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Specializes in Holistic and Aesthetic Medicine.

The makeup is impractical and it doesn't really cover well. Just wear long sleeves. If you are in a situation where you have to push them up, I doubt anyone will care.

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Specializes in Emergency; med-surg; mat-child.

I think it's so unrealistic and impractical for schools to be this way about tattoos. PLENTY of medical workers have them, and I have yet to work in or visit a facility that requires covering them. The CNA at my clinical site has several uncovered tats, and a nosering. Why make an already difficult program any harder by imposing rules that aren't even valid in the real world? Oh, wait. Hoops. Gotta jump through 'em. :rolleyes:

There's some tv doc (TLC or some similar network) who has a sleeve. I think he's a surgeon. He's got a show. Why can't a nursing student just attend a freaking clinical without having to wear a chador?

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