Tattoos

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Hey guys how do you handle visible tats where you work. I have a couple that can barely be seen and I want more. So how does your facility handle with it. Where I work we dont have an issue but i wont be here long and want to know what the outside world is like.

My arms are completely tattooed. At my current job I've gotten used to keeping them covered and I assume if you do the same with nursing there shouldn't be an issue. Waffle shirts or under armor should do the trick. I am not yet in nursing school, obviously.

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Specializes in Med Surg.

Given the effects of time and gravity on the human body it would probably be better if the ink did fade over the long run.

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Specializes in ICU, Trauma, CCT,Emergency, Flight, OR Nursing.

While I have no tattoos, every hospital I have ever worked at as well as the Flight Program where I currently work requires that No tattoo is visible. I have colleagues with tattoos but they keep everything covered up.

My advice is rather to not get one/ or not get another if its going to creat problems for you at work .

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Ive seen tons of nurses male and female with tattoos

I worked in psych for the last 3 years and ive seen nurses with full sleeves on both arms not covered up with short sleeve shirts and they have never gotten in trouble

but...this was at a private free standing psychiatric facility.

my brother on the other hand has a half sleeve and although hes not a nurse (RT) he goes to work @ huntington memorial hospital everyday without covering it up.

For me as a LVN i held off on a tattoo till after i was done with my RN. I waited because I did not want to be hassled by my instructors

about covering it up durring clinical or make the wrong impression (since these people have my carrer in their hands)

Once school is over (may 2011) and i land a job i will get a 3/4 sleeve on my right arm...but always remember just because hospitals are ok with sleeves and tattoos it is a big pt barrier and the baby boomer generation may not be as accepting of it as your administrators/managers will be

I'm looking into becoming an rn and I have two tats on my hands. one is an X because I'm straight edge and the other is a japanese style lotus. Heres my question.

Can you wear colored latex gloves so they arent showing or can I get some of that tattoo coverup makeup by Kat Von D???

I dont think you will be able to wear the gloves around all day where i work gloves can only be worn in a pts room and never in the hallways you must change the gloves each time

and the make up would just was off because of all the times you wash your hands durring one shift

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Specializes in Med Surg.

In school a student with a visible tat was required to keep it covered either with clothing or a bandage. If I was a patient and saw a large bandage on a student or a nurse, I would be more concerned wondering what kind of oozing, infected wound might be under there than I would over a tatoo. I sometimes think these rules are more about the sensibilities of management rather than concern about the patients.

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Specializes in lots.....

I think tattoos are great when they can be hidden. You do not want your potential employer examining your tattoo of a flaming skull on your right forearm while you are telling them why you would make a GREAT unit manager (and earn $80,000/year while your at it). Many will say they don't discriminate against tattoos....to that...I call B.S. Ask yourself this, "Is this giant tribal symbol I want to tattoo on my lower arm going to seem nearly as cool to me in 10 years? Will I still want the world to see it down the road when I am attempting to advance my career to a higher financial playing field?". If you are unsure of the answer, place the tattoo on an area of your body that can be easily covered with a t-shirt or standard scrub top.

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Specializes in ER, Perioperative.

One of the agency RNs that comes to our ER has a full-sleeve tattoo (it's *really* cool) and no one has ever said anything to him, as far as I know.

One of the FT staff RNs also has visible upper arm tattoos; he doesn't cover it up with a long-sleeve T-shirt, so it's visible and sticks out from his scrubs.

One of our former FT RNs had a couple smaller fore-arm tats, which he didn't cover up, and I never heard anyone say anything to him. He still comes to work registry occasionally.

Then again they all worked nights, so management is unlikely to stroll through unexpectedly on that shift... Also we are an inner city ER that gets a lot of action -- so we're definitely not one of the hospitals that's trying to please and placate a largely white, affluent, elderly patient population who dislike tattoos and view them negatively.

I don't know what the super-nice, ultra-professional teaching hospitals require... I'm trying to get a job at one of them, but I haven't yet... However, having brought both my mom and stepdad to appointments and visited them in the hospital a lot, and both of them were at (two different) well-respected, highly regarded teaching hospitals, I never saw any RN at either hospital showing a tattoo.

So it probably depends where you're working, what kind of facility, where's it located, etc. In the case of our inner city ER -- staff turnover is high, we always have agency nurses on every shift, most of the regular FT RNs are actually registry... so we're probably one of those hospitals that's in the "beggars can't be choosers" situation...

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It probably depends on the facilitie's policy. Last night on Boston Med, the male nurse had visible tattoos on his wrists. In the school I am going to attend, all visible tattoos must be covered.

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At my hospital all visible tat must be covered. personaly i think it looks more proffessional when tats are covered, but thats just me.

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