Tattoos in Nursing

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What do you think about Nurses with tattoos?

Do you have tattoos?

Should tattoos be shown during work as a Nurse?

There is no right or wrong answers. Thank you.

I personally am not into tattoos but I know many people view them as body art. It doesn't bother me when I see nurses with tattoos. I have been a patient and had nursing assistants with tattoos but no nurses with tattoos caring for me. It seems like it is quite commonplace these days. I have worked with nurses with tongue and nose piercings. Just wonder how people feel about that. When I first started nursing, we were not allowed to wear any jewellery, with the exception of a cross. No other religious symbols such as a star of David or symbols of other faiths were allowed. I don't think they would get away with that these days. However, I have worked in Christian health care facilities and the fact that I do not belong to that faith was problematic and I was treated differently. That is a whole other topic.

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Most of the guys I know with tats got them while in jail, usually cost a honey bun

I as patient would not want a heavily tattooed person touching me, Most of the girl I have known with tats usually danced or had danced for a living.

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People will judge and I'm the person who will judge. I don't think tattoos are professional in the medical profession or any business.

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Specializes in Orthopedics, Med-Surg.

You see more and more people out there marked up like Yakuza. A tattoo seen from a distance, particularly on an arm, just looks like you've been working on your car's greasy engine. People with extensive markings make me question their judgement.

People tell me that they got their tattoos to show their individualism. But since it seems that it's more a consequence of peer pressure, it seems to me that it's more an expression of membership in a herd, led by someone else.

I'm getting older now and can remember the 60s (I know, I must not have been there if I can remember them). Back in those days, we expressed our rebellion against the status quo by wearing ratty clothes and growing long hair and beards. Later, when the reality of having to find a job with which to support oneself became apparent, we changed our clothes and cut our hair. No harm/no foul.

Not so with tats. They're there for the duration and I've got to tell you, they don't age well. Imagine how that tramp stamp is going to look when your rear end is approaching retirement age. It won't be pretty.

All of that being said, given the choice between someone tattooed up and somebody with an unadorned body, I will hire the unadorned every time. Looking clean in our business is looking professional. I wore a white uniform my entire career. I did not sew patches on it to show my individualism. I wore it unadorned to show my professionalism. Just as I only smelled of soap, rather than splashing on the aftershave or cologne. It's what professionals do.

If you want to get a tattoo that doesn't get exposed at work, so be it. but if it can be seen and in particular if it's something noteworthy, I can't go for that. You will do what you will do but don't come crying about how you were discriminated against later.

I mentioned growing a beard when I was young and shaving it off when I had to work to support myself. I grew it back... after I retired.

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Specializes in public health, women's health, reproductive health.

Tattoos are so common now as to be boring and ordinary. This makes me very happy I never got one. Having said that, I don't really care if a nurse has tattoos, that goes for my coworkers as well as anyone who might be my nurse if I were ill. I find most tattoos to be ugly and like clutter on the body. But I don't attach their existence to a lack of nursing competency.

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Specializes in Surgical and Cardiovascular ICU.

No problem with maybe one visible tattoo, but don't believe the entire sleeve look is very professional. I've also seen several Nurses around the Hospital with lip piercings, eyebrow piercings and ear hoops...definitely not professional unless your running a Tattoo/Piercing Parlor or in a Bike Gang !

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Unprofessional no matter from what perspective you looking at it. Watch the Lockup show. Almost all of them have this self-mutilation scratch or whatever you call it. Nurses and other health ancillaries have seen enough physical permanent scars. Tats look grotesque when skin starts to sag and cause us nurses with enough problem to be sure pt is safe for procedures such as MRI and it is even difficult to see the vein when you have this annoying distracting paint on the skin to start an IV line. Will not, repeat not, hire a person with tat unless it is covered, covered, covered ad infinitum...

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I don't think any of these things is unprofessional. As for what the "elderly" think, that is a whole other topic. Now that I am officially "elderly" I hate that word. It is a loaded word, kind of like using pejorative racial slurs. There are so many stereotypes out there about the dreaded "elderly." We are not all narrow-minded traditionalists as you seem to think. Young people need to open their minds and quit stereotyping and bunching us all together in one group. We are as diverse as young people are. We are not all narrow-minded traditionalists. Open your minds, people. Stop the judging and elder discrimination.

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Specializes in Med-Surg; Pain Clinic; School Nurse.

I don't see anything wrong with nurses having tattoos. After having served in the military for over 10 yrs, tattoos were/are a way of life. There were polices in place as to how the tattoos are to be seen and these policies have transferred with me to the nursing profession. Also, I have found that talking about the patients piercings and/or tattoos bring a level of comfort to the patient that gets them to relax and even open up. Instead of people looking at them in a bad way, learn how to use it for the good of the patient. Oh and I have a large tattoo, but it can't be seen no matter what I wear. And that was my choice.

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But all "elders" are not as close minded as this. I think people have a right to be individuals. I deplore the current trend in nursing to turn us all into robotic task-oriented clones. I want nurses who can think for themselves, who can express themselves. Tattoos are not dirty. To many they are an art form. I believe in freedom of expression and open mindedness. As an "elder" I wish to be treated as an individual not as a stereotype and, in turn, I treat other people this way as well.

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Specializes in LTC and Pediatrics.
I don't think any of these things is unprofessional. As for what the "elderly" think, that is a whole other topic. Now that I am officially "elderly" I hate that word. It is a loaded word, kind of like using pejorative racial slurs. There are so many stereotypes out there about the dreaded "elderly." We are not all narrow-minded traditionalists as you seem to think. Young people need to open their minds and quit stereotyping and bunching us all together in one group. We are as diverse as young people are. We are not all narrow-minded traditionalists. Open your minds, people. Stop the judging and elder discrimination.

I work in LTC and most of our residents are 80s and 90s. They don't seem to care. What they care about is how well the staff treats them.

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Love that owl.

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