Tattoo Policy

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Hi! I have several tattoos - and I was curious what the typical health care employers policy is on them. The ones I have now are all easily coverable. I was however thinking of getting another one the base of my neck, which would be covered by my hair when worn down - such as during interviews etc, but it would be visible when I wear it up in a pony tail while working.

Could you please give me an idea of what the policies where you work are? This should give me a general idea of what to expect! Thanks!

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Specializes in CTICU, Interventional Cardiology, CCU.

my girlfriend who I graduated nursing school with had more tatoos then I could count. I MEAN A TON. Arms, legs, neck, chest, ect..also she had the large gauge ear pulgs and several facial piercings. But all she was told was, to wear a long sleve shirt under her scrubs while we were in school. Now we are RN's. She didn't have anyproblem being hired with all 50+ tatoos. If you are a good RN, appearance shouldn;t make a difference, I know easier said then done.

When I was hired as a new RN last year, the nurses on my floor gave me crap for having a tongue ring and 10+ear piercings and I wear a poulka shell bone choker at all times and have worn them for the last 10+ years, it's who I am.

I know I am a good RN, and I know my girlfriend is a good RN, that's all that matters!

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Specializes in Med/Surg.

Our hospital requires that employees cover their tatoos...either with clothing or a bandage.

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My first hospital wants all tattoos covered. The second wanted exposed tattoos to be tasteful. My current place is the same. One of our nurses has a Chinese character at the base of her neck and she has short hair. Not a problem.

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Specializes in NICU.

I have a small (1.5" x 1.5") tattoo on the back of my neck and sometimes the one on my upper back peeks out of my scrubs. It is not a problem at my hospital. I wear my hair up about half the time and I am not required to cover it. I work in Neonatal ICU at a university hospital.

Bobbi

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Specializes in Staff Dev--Critical Care & Trauma.

Tasteful tattoos are not a problem here. Although, I can imagine that if someone is sleeved out they might be asked to cover up (tasteful or not). I still say that if I can read your tramp stamp it's not professional, but having it peek out when you empty a Foley is no big deal.

I found that my tat--a band around my forearm--was more of a conversation piece with patients and families than anything else.

Again: tasteful is key.

Totally not on this particular topic, but tat related...

I had a trauma patient--new admit--I was taking care of. We turned him, and there on his back was a neck-to-butt-shoulder-to-shoulder picture of a woman in "all her glory". Seriously. I could practically count the hairs on her coochie. Think "Hustler" or "Barely Legal."

Then his wife walked in and I realized that I now knew her more intimately than my patient.

It was very hard for me not to laugh.

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Officially, our hospital policy states that tattoos have to be covered. I've seen a few guys who have tattoos on their biceps that peek out a little when they're wearing short sleeves, but AFAIK no one has ever said anything.

I think that employers are going to have to relax tattoo policies if they want to stay staffed in the future. I read somewhere that something like 30% of people under 25 have ink of some kind.

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Specializes in neuro, ICU/CCU, tropical medicine.
I had a trauma patient--new admit--I was taking care of. We turned him, and there on his back was a neck-to-butt-shoulder-to-shoulder picture of a woman in "all her glory".

I took care of a guy who had a tat on the glans of his member - OUCH!

Years ago a CNA got fired from a hospital in Seattle for having a tat on his antecubit that read "HIV+." He sued and was re-hired with the agreement that he would keep it covered while working.

That story was in the news for a while (I'm sure you could find it online if you're interested). Some time later I had a patient who was admitted for an elective surgery who was terrified that he would contract AIDS while he was in the hospital because he had seen that story in the news.

What did we do? We put in him a room with a guy who had AIDS dementia! I had to spend a lot of time educating him about the transmission of HIV.

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While I am only a lowly pre-Nursing student, I have two full sleeves as well as a pretty extensive chest piece. As far as I know, I'll just have to wear long sleeves, and possibly a mock turtle neck (since a bit of my chest piece goes up my throat).

I want to be a nurse so bad, that I don't care what I have to wear and what I have to hide! Thankfully I don't have anything on my face, neck, or hands, so I should be OK. I'm sure that as long as they are covered, you will have no problem.

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I wouldn't add any art until after school is done.

(Then again I was raised not to get either tattoos or piercings so I may not be the best source.).

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Specializes in ICU.

our hospital policy is all tatoo's must be covered......regardless of where they are or what you have to do to cover them.

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Specializes in everywhere.

I have a tat, noone at work knows about or sees. I also work with some wonderful nurses who have several tattoos, some of them are very obvious, others not so much. Not a big deal as far as I'm concerned, as long as the person is a professional, good nurse.

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