tattoos?

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school says we have to cover tattoos but they dont say how. Long sleeves are not permitted under uniforms. I have tatts on both forearms. Is there some kind of thing that they make models/actors wear or whatever?

(I was gonna put this in the dudes forum but I saw an EMT or Paramedic working out of Lennox Hill in NY and she had full sleeves on both arms lol)

Are you sure the school enforces the policy? My school has a "no visible tattoo" policy in the student handbook but no one cared, except for one instructor, and she was fine with my wearing long sleeves under my scrub top.

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Specializes in Trauma, Teaching.

do you know anyone who works in ER or ortho? There are the long cloth tubes that are flesh colored, that we put on under splints and casts to protect the skin. They stretch out after a while, but cover tats nicely without being too hot. I used on over an arm burn just to keep from bumping things all the time, and my coworkers wanted to know what kind of tat I had gotten! :lol2:

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I have a tattoo on my left forearm, I am not sure if this will be an issue for me but I wear Under Armor when volunteering at the VA Med Center. I have Under Armor to keep me warm and keep my cool, they are both long sleeved.

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http://www.mehron.com/SearchResults.asp?Search=tattoo

I got this to try out, and tryed to use it to cover a buise i got on my face, and trust me it took me forever to get it off.....would not just wash off no matter how many times i tried.....ended up using my makeup remover for waterproof eyemake up to get it off.

I am not sure how well it covers tattoos, as both of mine are on my back, but is a lot cheaper then others like dermablend, so if it doesnt work its not too much of a waste

There is also smart cover..... www.smartcover.com it is supposed to be good, but i dont know.....but is a little more pricy, but still not too too bad

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Hi,

We had to go to a mandatory general meeting for the nursing program and I kid you not, one of the first topics of discussion was about tattoos. The head of the nursing department went on and on about how tattoos MUST be covered and if you cannot cover them or have them removed, you will not be allowed to participate in clinicals. So, yes, I think this policy will be strictly enforced. I don't understand why we aren't allowed to wear long sleeves though, only 3/4 sleeves. I'm the type who is always cold, so I'm hoping they don't strictly enforce this rule. I can't believe how strict my school is with their uniform policy, especially because it's only a CC and not some prestigious medical university!

Chrissy

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Hi,

We had to go to a mandatory general meeting for the nursing program and I kid you not, one of the first topics of discussion was about tattoos. The head of the nursing department went on and on about how tattoos MUST be covered and if you cannot cover them or have them removed, you will not be allowed to participate in clinicals. So, yes, I think this policy will be strictly enforced. I don't understand why we aren't allowed to wear long sleeves though, only 3/4 sleeves. I'm the type who is always cold, so I'm hoping they don't strictly enforce this rule. I can't believe how strict my school is with their uniform policy, especially because it's only a CC and not some prestigious medical university!

Chrissy

I know I asked about long sleeves at my meeting and she said no. I think THAT is more of a heath issue. Long sleeves can recieve transfer of bacteria from one patient, and you will not be disposing that bacteria with the gloves, or washing it away with hand washing, and then can transfer to other patients. Tattoos are an appearance thing. so really if one should be more strictly enforsed, it should be the long sleeves. However long sleeves isnt even addressed in the student handbook and tattoos are, but when we shadowed current students in the program and spoke to others, there was a girl there with a tattoo on the side of her neck, no attempt to conceal it.....and a guy that came in was wearing a long sleeve thermal shirt under his scrubs. So it appears at least some cases are not strictly enforced.

Also you have to remeber, you represent your school.....your school needs to look good to that hospital. A hospital associated program actually has MORE ability to not be as strict. If the hospital you are going into doesnt like the appearance of the students coming in(visable tatts), or if they are not following hospital guidelines(proper attire), they may decide to no longer allow your school to hold clinicals there if it is enough of a problem. The prestigious medical university can be more lenient, because if the hospital has issues they can address the issue....the school doesnt risk losing its hospital to hold clinicals in since there is a direct association.

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To be honest I love tatoos and it would totally make my day if my nurse came in with a full sleeve, not something you see everyday! I only have one tattoo but it's easy to cover with clothing.

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Specializes in Emergency/Cath Lab.
To be honest I love tatoos and it would totally make my day if my nurse came in with a full sleeve, not something you see everyday! I only have one tattoo but it's easy to cover with clothing.

Agreed but that is the difference in the ages. One of my buddies was a SF operator and is now a nurse. His tattoos are insane and he works in the ER. Says more conversations start from that more than anything.

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Also you have to remeber, you represent your school.....your school needs to look good to that hospital. A hospital associated program actually has MORE ability to not be as strict. If the hospital you are going into doesnt like the appearance of the students coming in(visable tatts), or if they are not following hospital guidelines(proper attire), they may decide to no longer allow your school to hold clinicals there if it is enough of a problem. The prestigious medical university can be more lenient, because if the hospital has issues they can address the issue....the school doesnt risk losing its hospital to hold clinicals in since there is a direct association.

what sucks about this is that this year my school is up for re-accreditation and they said the instucters will be all a flutter over this.

But you know I live in a military town, a Navy Master Jet Base, a Navy SEAL base, and a Marine Corps base and at least 80% of the older students like me are military or former military and tatted up. Were not talking some poduck town where tattoos break social more's or whatever.

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Are you sure the school enforces the policy? My school has a "no visible tattoo" policy in the student handbook but no one cared, except for one instructor, and she was fine with my wearing long sleeves under my scrub top.

yeah thats what Im hoping. I know the hospitals around here do not enforce much. I know a nurse who wears crocs even though they arent allowed but she said nobody would say anything on the night shift and in fact the last time she worked the charge nurse was also wearing crocs.

I remember when I was in Marine Corps bootcamp they told us not to get tattoos but of course nobody listened. Hell they told us to not do a ton of things for that matter (like dont bring your car to base) lol

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what sucks about this is that this year my school is up for re-accreditation and they said the instucters will be all a flutter over this.

But you know I live in a military town, a Navy Master Jet Base, a Navy SEAL base, and a Marine Corps base and at least 80% of the older students like me are military or former military and tatted up. Were not talking some ponduck town where tattoos break social more's or whatever.

Thats true, likely no patients would care, but you are being held to the standards of the school, and they aim to surpass the standards of the hospital. More likely then not, you will find the areasadn that are more relaxed....maybe its the tatts, maybe its the long sleeves. And also, more likely then not it will ONLY be through nursing school. I know when i went to the meeting day, she also told us we are requiered to iron our scrubs...they are to be crisp whites, and she followed that with, will anyone else at the hospital follow that, probably not, but that is what is expected of you. Same probably goes with things like tatts.....if your school is even strict about covering them, it will only be through school.

Can try the tattoo cover I mentioned in my earlier post. Or cover with bandages if they arent too large and they will allow it. And then once you can test the waters and find out if they really are so strict about sleeves or covering tatts, you can change your plan

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