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 have several tattoos, two can be partially seen at work if i don't have longer sleeves on. One is a nursing themed half sleeve. I've had nothing but great feed back.

I've also never met a nurse with something that i thought might be offensive.

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You say you have had nothing but great feedback......unbelievable. Allow me to disagree, I think it looks garish. Having honestly said that, will I be deemed judgmental or will i be allowed to have and share my dissenting opinion without being labelled or chastised?

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Specializes in Behavioral Health.
You say you have had nothing but great feedback......unbelievable. Allow me to disagree, I think it looks garish. Having honestly said that, will I be deemed judgmental or will i be allowed to have and share my dissenting opinion without being labelled or chastised?

You mean you want to be able to post your judgments of others without them judging you back? Sorry, that's not really how... well any place works. You have an opinion, it's a fairly conservative opinion. You're certainly not the only one, even in this thread, to hold it. You can have whatever belief you like inside your own head, but once you express it as words it's available for comment by others. We call it "conversation." :)

ETA: In the interest of conversation, I'll add this. I don't really care what anyone thinks of my ink. I don't care what my patients think. I don't even care what my coworkers think. I also don't care what they think of my shoes, my outfit, my hair, or whether my glasses compliment my face (they totally do). I picked the group of people who I decided had opinions that mattered, they're my family and friends. Anyone else can feel free to share an opinion with me - I try to be nice - but I reserve the right to merely shrug politely and ignore it.

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Specializes in Med/surg, Onc.

Everyone one is entitled to their own opinion, and I know the plural of anecdotal is not data. The funny part is my mom hates it because she worries I'll look weird old. I'll just be glad to be old.

I am am amused that I've never met anyone with tattoos that cared if someone doesn't have tattoos but people without them often criticize those with them.

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Yes we are totally on the same page. I have found that I have had the misfortune to work for some rather narrow-minded, superficial managers who care more about how things look on the surface than they do about patient care. For example, harrassing nurses over their hairdos but turning a blind eye when a nurse got an order for and gave a med to which a patient had an allergy. That was okay for the managers. I guess they didn't care because if the patient dies, the bed will get filled the next day, so why worry.

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You are allowed to share your opinion. You didn't say you would not hire this person or that you would harrass her in the workplace. That is the difference between being judgmental and expressing an opinion. Hope you can comprehend the distinction.

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Yes exactly. You don't have one, don't want one, not your thing, but you are not labelling or judging people's competency based on your personal preferences.

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Regarding tattoos this has been my experience ... the tattoos that are immediately present are a left arm sleeve dedicated to my discipline in martial arts and a right half-sleeve dedicated to my Gaelic heritage. My first Tattoo was in 1983. In spite of my abundance of ink many of the students at the college I was attending (I received my Nursing Degree in 2011) thought I was faculty, hence perceived professionalism”. I don't think my tattoos are as much as a matter of professionalism as they being a distraction. I have conducted patient assessments/interviews both with my tattoos covered and proudly showing them. It seems that when my tattoos are exposed patients are distracted looking at my tattoos regardless of their current medical issues. I end up asking questions repeatedly as they interrupt the nursing process to ask me about my tattoos, not out of disrespect, but out of curiosity. I love artistic, well-thought-out tattoos, but they are personal and a patient responds to the uniform application of the best we have to offer. The best advice I can give as far as tattoos and patient care – Cover Them.

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So I dye my natural grey hair color. So would I get fired for that? Or would I get fired for looking too old, having prematurely grayed? Glad I don't work there. Sounds very restrictive. Oh and the fragrance thing has nothing to do with fragrance. It is just another workplace discrimination policy. I had an anaphylactic reaction from lilies to which I am severely allergic. The big boss could not have cared less. When I drew her attention to it, she said the policy applies to fragrances people wear not flowers. She could not have cared less that I got so sick. The policy is about what people smell like not about allergies and safety and health.

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Specializes in OR, Nursing Professional Development.

ActualNurse, it is impossible to figure out who you are responding to. If you are on the desktop site, select the quote button next to the reply button at the bottom of a post, and we will be able to see the comment you are responding to. If you are on the mobile site, clicking reply twice will quote the post you are responding to. Otherwise, your comments have no context.

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ActualNurse, it is impossible to figure out who you are responding to. If you are on the desktop site, select the quote button next to the reply button at the bottom of a post, and we will be able to see the comment you are responding to. If you are on the mobile site, clicking reply twice will quote the post you are responding to. Otherwise, your comments have no context.

Thank you. I was waiting 'til the end of this thread to see if SOMEONE stepped in. :woot:

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You say you have had nothing but great feedback......unbelievable. Allow me to disagree, I think it looks garish. Having honestly said that, will I be deemed judgmental or will i be allowed to have and share my dissenting opinion without being labelled or chastised?

I think your manners are garish. Honestly saying that.

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I was not judging the original poster I was offering a different opinion because she stated with great pride that she received nothing but great feedback on her half sleeve ink. In fact, I would defend any person's right to present themselves in whatever manner they feel is appropriate to their situation, but I also believe I deserve the right to have an opinion and express it. Over the last 10 years Dozens of people have showed me their tattoos with the expectation that I offer an opinion, unfortunately I have observed that these individuals only want compliments. That is why people who proclaim that they do not care what anyone thinks, myself included, select family and friends who agree with and support their choices. Everybody wants friends that are yes-men/women, and even close friends for decades are put off by the truth if it differs from their perception.

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