Shocked by facial piercings at work

Nurses Professionalism

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So occassionally I'll see a nurse or doc with a nose ring, or tongue ring. If it is not for cultural purposes, I personally find that it truly takes away from the professional look we are supposed to have while at work.

I'm a fan of nose rings, I think they are cute and I thought about getting one however I thought it wouldn't be a good look for work. I also would not was to bother taking it in and out.

Anyway, during my share time at a hospital yesterday I was shocked to see that a nurse midwife was allowed to wear a facial piercing at work. She had a piercing above her upper lip.

Is this becoming more common in your work places? How do you all feel about facial piercings in the health care setting?

Piercings and tattoos just show that you want to fit in and be trendy, don't waste your time or money. If you want to change your appearance go to the gym (if you don't already). My first reaction when I see tattoos and peircings as well as wild haircuts is that the person has issues and desires attention. It's also not very professional and speaks to the lowest common denominator. These people want to be part of a certain group or tribe and get their identity from the images they surround themselves with, few people think for themselves anymore.

Specializes in NICU.

Somehow unprofessional! How could it ever be considered professional! As one of "the older generation" who is still very cognizant, sensible, and practical, I find your comment offensive. Allow me to explain why I feel that look is unprofessional: Tattoos and piercings are a fad that doesn't belong in the workplace, the same way many forms of casual dress don't. And like any other fad, they will fall out of favor. "The younger generation" makes fun of '80s hair and clothing, correct? But that's exactly how your tatts and piercings will be viewed one day. As a woman, I wish to always be able to update and modernize my professional look in a very short period of time, say the 20-30 minutes that it takes to color hair or get a haircut or pick out a new blouse from the rack or remove or apply makeup. But, a tatt or piercing is like being permanently stuck wearing '80s hair or last years' blouse, only it can't be instantly remedied by trip to the mall and a couple hundred dollars, and least not yet. It currently costs thousands of $USD and much time to remove those tatts and halfway restore your body to a neutral canvas. Anything that difficult to alter, I do not favor.

Not practical, not attractive, not desirable: That is aesthetically how I see tatts and most piercings.

From a medical standpoint, and as a professional who also worked years in the chemical manufacturing industry (I know my way around MSDSs and hazmat cleanups and toxic nerve agents and hazards that RNs will never see in their entire lifetimes), I see tatts as bombarding the body's largest organ with chemicals of unknown composition. In Pennsylvania, there are few-to-no regulation and licenses and professional training required to set up a tattoo shop. Any nimrod can do it. Sorry, but tattoos don't seem very smart or prudent to me from a safety and health perspective, either.

You can do what you like. And if I am a patient, I will most likely request an "older generation" nursing professional who is not all marked up with tattoos and piercings. If the hospital can't provide a nurse who looks "normal" to me, I will bestow that hospital with a low customer satisfaction rating and I will CLEARLY explain that their employees make me feel uncomfortable, because they don't look like sensible people who use good judgement.

You're actually joking right? I hope you're never my patient...i wouldnt be "Competent" to care for you due to my 2 arm tattoos and nose stud. The shock! The horror! Your comment offends ME, because my tatts have deep personal meaning to me, they were carefully thought out for many months to years...not just a passing fad. and i work with mostly elderly older patients, and no one has been bothered by it...most of them are actually interested and really like them. Not everyone has to like tattoos, but to say you would refuse care by someone who had them, and complain to the hospital? That is so ridiculous its laughable. How painfully judgemental.

Specializes in OR.

I'm appalled that some people have chosen to attack TC2300 for expressing her honest opinion on the matter. Some of the responses to her feel almost schoolyard bully-ish. She took the time to not just express an apparently dissenting opinion, but to also explain her rationale, and she did so without singling anybody out. What a concept! If you do have tattoos and piercings, I don't believe she was speaking to you, specifically, but speaking more in generalities, which is often done on these forums.

I can see some validity in the point she is trying to make. Tattooing and piercings may have been around since before hospitals, but everybody and their brother being covered in them is a fad. I personally have no problem with tasteful piercing or even the occasional tattoo, but some people have taken it way beyond that under the guise of expressing their individuality. It cracks me up to see people who express their individuality by being just like everybody else. Especially since I know a few people for whom tats are no longer an individuality expression but an addiction.

Would I request a different caregiver as a patient if the one assigned to me were tattooed or pierced? If their appearance was offensive to me or if they made me uncomfortable in any way I absolutely would. Would a tattoo or piercing be immediate grounds for that request from me? No. And I couldn't say exactly what would warrant that reaction from me until I saw it.

My apologies to anybody I might have offended, but it really rankles me to see somebody attacked when their opinion differs from the general consensus -- whether I agree with them or not. Their opinion is their opinion. Although it may be different, it is not right or wrong.

Specializes in OR, Nursing Professional Development.
I'm appalled that some people have chosen to attack TC2300 for expressing her honest opinion on the matter. Some of the responses to her feel almost schoolyard bully-ish. She took the time to not just express an apparently dissenting opinion, but to also explain her rationale, and she did so without singling anybody out. What a concept! If you do have tattoos and piercings, I don't believe she was speaking to you, specifically, but speaking more in generalities, which is often done on these forums.

I can see some validity in the point she is trying to make. Tattooing and piercings may have been around since before hospitals, but everybody and their brother being covered in them is a fad. I personally have no problem with tasteful piercing or even the occasional tattoo, but some people have taken it way beyond that under the guise of expressing their individuality. It cracks me up to see people who express their individuality by being just like everybody else. Especially since I know a few people for whom tats are no longer an individuality expression but an addiction.

Would I request a different caregiver as a patient if the one assigned to me were tattooed or pierced? If their appearance was offensive to me or if they made me uncomfortable in any way I absolutely would. Would a tattoo or piercing be immediate grounds for that request from me? No. And I couldn't say exactly what would warrant that reaction from me until I saw it.

My apologies to anybody I might have offended, but it really rankles me to see somebody attacked when their opinion differs from the general consensus -- whether I agree with them or not. Their opinion is their opinion. Although it may be different, it is not right or wrong.

I think most people are responding to this part of TC2300's post:

I will CLEARLY explain that their employees make me feel uncomfortable, because

they don't look like sensible people who use good judgement.

This person is clearly associating people's sensibility/capability with appearances. I see nothing wrong with calling out people for judging someone without cause. I would certainly be uncomfortable working with someone who is judging me for having a tattoo (which was most certainly not a whim, and is very meaningful to me) when that tattoo has no bearing on my ability as a nurse.
Specializes in OR.

But that's my point. It's her opinion. It's how she feels, what tattoos or piercings represent to her. You may not agree with it, you may not like it, you may be offended by it, but it's still her opinion. And calling somebody out is not the same as calling them ridiculous or dumb or saying you hope you never work with them, are their patient, or are their nurse. That is the part I object to. Disagreeing is wonderful. Healthy, even. But some comments went beyond that, and that's what I was talking about.

But that's my point. It's her opinion. It's how she feels what tattoos or piercings represent to her. You may not agree with it, you may not like it, you may be offended by it, but it's still her opinion. And calling somebody out is not the same as calling them ridiculous or dumb or saying you hope you never work with them, are their patient, or are their nurse. That is the part I object to. Disagreeing is wonderful. Healthy, even. But some comments went beyond that, and that's what I was talking about.[/quote']

Ah, but saying they hope they never work with them or are their patient/nurse is also an opinion, to which those posters are likewise entitled.

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

I'm not sure how facial piercings equal not being clean.

Specializes in Telemetry, OB, NICU.

Long story short, I personally think facial piercings and tattoos are unprofessional and unacceptable in professional look of nurses. None of my coworkers have visible one of those. I am very sensitive when it comes to being and looking professional. I am new at my hospital, and it looks like they got a strict policy on that, thankfully.

Specializes in OB (with a history of cardiac).
The *parent* complained?!? And the nurse retaliated by shaving her head?!? That sounds like someone with more problems than just following a dress code!

That sounds exactly like the way children in this generation are being raised- to have mommy and daddy come to their rescue (helicopter parenting on the job!) making excuses in order to give their child special rights, and then the child blatantly, immaturely breaks the rules. I sure hope that nurse got taken to task for her award winning display of high school level maturity.

--Sincerely,

The nurse with two hidden tattoos and one not so well hidden but nobody on my unit seems to care.

Specializes in OR.
Ah, but saying they hope they never work with them or are their patient/nurse is also an opinion, to which those posters are likewise entitled.

And yet if that same opinion were expressed the other direction, most people wouldn't be defending their right to express that opinion. I find it sad that defense of a poster's right to express their opinion does not run both directions.

And yet if that same opinion were expressed the other direction, most people wouldn't be defending their right to express that opinion. I find it sad that defense of a poster's right to express their opinion does not run both directions.

No one's preventing anyone from expressing their opinion so no "rights" are being violated. Even in arenas where we DO have a protected legal right to free speech, we don't have a right to freedom of consequences or freedom of reaction from others. Calling that reaction "bullying" really diminishes the experience of people who truly are bullied. That poster voiced an opinion that was unpopular in a way that was unpopular. People reacted and responded. It's OK.

Specializes in OR.

I'm sorry. "Rights" was the wrong word. I'm well aware of our constitutionally protected rights, and I wasn't going there. I'm just saying that a person expressed an unpopular opinion, explained her rationale in a non-confrontational way, and was attacked for it. I was also saying if she had said something in a similar way but in favor of the popular opinion, she would have been treated differently. It feels a bit hypocritical, and I knew I would take a few hits for posting my feelings about it. I'm over it, and I'll keep that in mind for the future. I'm not taking this any further because it's going nowhere and coming close to hijacking the thread.

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