Tattoos and Appearance

sonomala · Feb 8, 2009

Just thought I'd add that at the ltc I work at, I've seen two male cnas with tattoos and at least two females have them. And more then a few admit to having them where no one can see. The residents adore these guys and some times even joke about the tattoos and whose going to get one next. Of course both these guys are huge and have no problem lifting people who would otherwise need the lifts. Anyway a resident can get out of having a lift they will so naturally these guys are the faves.

ZanatuBelmont · Feb 9, 2009

I will be taking the CNA course starting in January and I just realized that having tattoos/more than one ear piercing might be a problem. My mom is a nurse and when she worked at a hospital they only allowed her to have single-hole ear piercings. I have 5 in each ear. I also have a large tattoo on my upper arm and 3 small ones on my forearm. I figured I could just wear a long sleeve shirt under my scrub shirt. Would this work or would it be hard to perform tasks with a long sleeve shirt? I thought that nurses/aides today were not as traditional looking but I want to make sure. But I figure it also could depend on the area and the hospital. Any experience with this?

It depends on your facility, but I can't imagine very many allowing someone to take care of a patient with a million piercings and tats on the arm. That does not instill a sense of security for these older people - remember, they come from a generation when a tat and multiple piercings were reserved for prostitutes and pimps, LOL!

You should have no problems working with long sleeves, sooo many people do it where I work and do my nursing clinical rotations. Just make sure you're not flashing a thong. I would reduce your earrings to one in each ear, and remember, no loop earrings.

brykrandy · Jan 25, 2011

I have tats on both my arms, and there are more cna's with piercings and tat's then don't, where I work. No one has ever said anything bad about them to me.

daimere · Jan 25, 2011

I think you have to look at it from the perspective of the age group you'll most likely be caring for. Its a stereotype thats changed with more recent generations but for the older ones they see a ton of piercings and tatoos they get afraid and it means, to them, bad person. Your not a bad person your just expressing yourself, but the last thing you want is to get a patient/resident upset before you've even started.

Funny enough most of the men I care for have more tattoos than I did when I started working. Although I work with army men. If I write on my arm, they ask me, "Oh you have a tattoo?" I now have one visible tattoo and most the men don't see it. If they do, it's after a while. I had my hair flaming red/pink and that caused more of a ruckus with the management. All the men would just say my hair was pretty or continue to call me red. I've toned my hair down a bit and the comments are the same. I highly doubt I was offending them. One man said he loved my hair because I was different than all the others. Now, when I got my tattoo a nurse I don't work with told me that "I'm in the wrong profession to have a forearm tattoo" and I was going to get cellulitis. She had a tattoo on her forearm of an ICP clown. Hmph.

On the other hand, piercings are a no no in my facility but they don't focus on that rule. This one girl still fumes how they threatened to fire her for her nostril ring and they still have tons of CNAs that have it.

yousoldtheworld · Jan 25, 2011

I have a large tattoo on each upper arm and one on my foot. Sometimes the arm ones peek out from under my scrub sleeves when I'm working, but I've rarely had anyone I've cared for be bothered by them.

One exception - an elderly man at a facility I used to work at would always tell me that women shouldn't mess up their skin with those "nasty things", even though he had some himself. But, he was also just one of THOSE guys. He'd tell you things like "You'd be pretty if you just weren't so heavy" and "That nurse wears ugly clothes to work and she should comb her hair differently", so to be honest I just ignored him.

But for the most part, when residents would see my tattoos they'd just be interested and ask what they were, never had anyone else offended by them.

Ev1987 · Jan 25, 2011

I choose to get my only tattoo on the back of my neck, so that I can cover it up with hair during an interview.