Tattoo...

Yes! I too promised myself that I'd get a very similar tattoo. Nine months later, I still haven't done it - I'm wimping out ...

So here's a question for all you fresh new nurses out there living and learning along beside me...

While I was in nursing school, i always promised myself that when I got licensed I would get a tattoo on my lower back of the cadeuseus and the letters RN on either side. And now that I am an RN, the tattoo loving part of me still wants it, but I am still new and there is this thought in the back of my mind that I'm going to somehow lose my license and then what? I would have this tattoo forever. Am I just being a freak? And most importantly, do any of you have any freaky thoughts along these lines?

amy

Do it. I have a tattoo, but it's just a cute little butterfly on my hip.

I got my tattoo once I finished the police academy. The tattoo did not have anything to do with law enforcement, rather it was a design I wanted. Maybe get something without relating to the profession of RN and let the fact that you got a tattoo symbolize the accomplishment of your licensure.

Remember....it hurts in the beginning, but the area will eventually go numb!

Oh, honey. Do it! I have a number of tattoos, and while most of them I wouldn't get again, I like that I have them. Even the fairy on my arm, which seems SO smurfy to me now, symbolized a time in my life where that design really did mean something to me. I get the whole being scared about the license thing, but you're NOT going to lose the license. Hey, get the tattoo and then let it motivate you to not do anything egregiously stupid!

Remember....it hurts in the beginning, but the area will eventually go numb!

:monkeydance: :monkeydance: :monkeydance:

I promised myself a tattoo too but haven't gotten it yet. I have others, just don't know what I want yet but will definately have RN on it whatever I choose!!

Get something that you want, if you get it, because, you're right, you'd have it forever (since most people don't have the money to get it removed).

So here's a question for all you fresh new nurses out there living and learning along beside me...

While I was in nursing school, i always promised myself that when I got licensed I would get a tattoo on my lower back of the cadeuseus and the letters RN on either side. And now that I am an RN, the tattoo loving part of me still wants it, but I am still new and there is this thought in the back of my mind that I'm going to somehow lose my license and then what? I would have this tattoo forever. Am I just being a freak? And most importantly, do any of you have any freaky thoughts along these lines?

amy

Amy,

I am not a fan of tattoos on men or women but I know they are in vogue now and a lot of people are getting them in various locations all over their body. I am a former Army RN and the Army started having rules on where the tats could be placed, both on men and women. This was several years ago so things may have changed by now but the rule was the tat could not be visible outside the uniform, (i.e. neck, hands, wrists, and lower part of the legs).

Long story short, do what makes you feel good about yourself and what you have on your body under your clothing is your business.

Congratulations on completing nursing school and I hope you encourage others to join our profession,,, and quickly ! lol

Wayne

I got my tattoo once I finished the police academy. The tattoo did not have anything to do with law enforcement, rather it was a design I wanted. Maybe get something without relating to the profession of RN and let the fact that you got a tattoo symbolize the accomplishment of your licensure.

Remember....it hurts in the beginning, but the area will eventually go numb!

I think tattoos are fun and interesting...

Be sure you know what the symbol means--the caduceus is not really exactly what people generally think; it's often used as a symbol for medicine, although it was not originally that, according to this blurb:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caduceus

Plus, it's more a medical symbol and not really a nursing symbol.

But, otherwise, go for it. We only live so long. Why not?

:) Rebecca the tattooed lady

The pain factor also depends on the location of the tattoo - anything over bone hurts more. I have a tattoo on my bicep and shoulder - the part over my bicep barely hurt at all, but when it got to the knobby part of my shoulder - yow! My first tattoo was right over the big old bump of C7. The best comparison I've come up with is that it feels like scratching a bad sunburn.

Do what you want but think long and hard about it. I have one small tattoo on my ankle (music notes) and a pretty big one on my back. I thought about getting it for some time before I promised myself that I would wait until graduation (a year away) to get it. I still wanted it when I graduated so I got it, crossed the stage with my brand new tattoo.

Next month will be a year that I've had it and I don't regret it one bit. I'm well aware that when I'm 80-something it'll all look like a bunch of blobs on wrinkled skin but I really don't care. It looks good now (better in person than in the picture) and I think it's beautiful. If people don't want to see it, look away!