tattoos/piercings

[Swellz]

Tattoos and piercings. I'm curious how they are handled in other facilities.

My nursing school had very specific uniform requirements. You could wear earrings, but only in the first hole and only posts, and no visible tattoos. It wasn't necessarily enforced by every instructor, but that was the policy. I was told it was the policy of the hospital as well, but if it is, it doesn't seem to be enforced universally. When I worked there, I didn't actually read the guidelines (which I should have), but I was told during my interview that noserings weren't allowed. I never did take it out.

Does your facility have a strict no piercing no visible tattoo policy? If so, is it enforced?

Just curious.

[KelRN215, BSN, RN]

I have seven piercings in my ears. Three on each lobe and my cartilage on the left. I've never taken any of my earrings out for any job I've ever held (hospital, school or home health) or for any clinical in school. And I've never only worn studs.

I had many colleagues in the hospital who had visible tattoos and no one ever asked them to cover them. Also had colleagues with nose rings and "interesting" ear piercings like tragus, conch and industrial piercings. It really is facility and area specific. I live in a very liberal area.

[loriangel14, RN]

I work in a hospital and I see a variety of quite visible tattoos, plus nose rings and studs and other unusual piercings.It doesn't seem to be a problem. One nurse even has auburn hair with a large bright blue streak.

[amygarside]

it really depends on the facility and on the people's minds around..

[Bortaz, MSN, RN]

Tattoos and piercings. I'm curious how they are handled in other facilities.

My nursing school had very specific uniform requirements. You could wear earrings, but only in the first hole and only posts, and no visible tattoos. It wasn't necessarily enforced by every instructor, but that was the policy. I was told it was the policy of the hospital as well, but if it is, it doesn't seem to be enforced universally. When I worked there, I didn't actually read the guidelines (which I should have), but I was told during my interview that noserings weren't allowed. I never did take it out.

Does your facility have a strict no piercing no visible tattoo policy? If so, is it enforced?

Just curious.

it shouldn't HAVE to be "enforced". You should follow the policy without someone having to waste time policing you.

[ORNursetobe33]

Yes. Because EVERYONE follows policies and procedures to a tee!

Our ER nurses and EMT's look like a multicolored punk rock show. I think it's kinda cool. When a patient is coding the family doesn't give a crap what the nurse looks like. I can barely do IV's on half my patients cause they are covered in ink and I get dizzy. People who care about stuff like this need hobbies.

[classicdame, MSN, EdD]

In our facility you must have tattoos covered, no piercing except in ears.

[That Guy, BSN, RN, EMT-B]

Yes. Because EVERYONE follows policies and procedures to a tee!

Our ER nurses and EMT's look like a multicolored punk rock show. I think it's kinda cool. When a patient is coding the family doesn't give a crap what the nurse looks like. I can barely do IV's on half my patients cause they are covered in ink and I get dizzy. People who care about stuff like this need hobbies.

Another example of how the ER gets to do almost whatever we want to

[proud nurse, BSN, RN]

I cannot tell you the number of employees that have visible tattoos at the hospital where I work. It seems to be very acceptable these days.

[monkeybug]

DANG!!! I always wanted to work in a nudist facility. For pts and staff. No dress code and no lost/missing clothes incident reports to complete!

But where would we keep our pens, hemostats, alcohol swabs, and all the other stuff we load down our pockets with?

[SoldierNurse22, BSN, RN]

But where would we keep our pens, hemostats, alcohol swabs, and all the other stuff we load down our pockets with?

I don't want to know the answer to this question!

[S.G.]

One facility allowed no visible piercingly except ears but was lax on tattoos. Another facility was lax on piercings but strongly enforced no visible tattoos. Nurses with sleeves had to wear long sleeves to cover their ink. Tattoos on face and hands weren't allowed. People were also terminated for dying their hair radical colors or for radical styles. They were given the option to change their hair or find employment elsewhere.

[S.G.]

And as long as we're talking about nudist nurses, we had to have a policy made at one facility that stated underclothes were mandatory when the hospital started getting complaints about one of our male nurses going commando in white scrubs!