Tattoos

klone, MSN, RN · Jan 18, 2017

Depends totally on the facility. Past facilities I've worked at have had rules from "no visible tats" to "can have up to two tats, no larger than 1" square". My current facility has no policy and many of the nurses sport full sleeves.

meanmaryjean, DNP, RN · Jan 18, 2017

Most places in my area are 'no visible tats'. A friend was denied a job because of her son's name in her inner wrist.

verene, MSN · Jan 18, 2017

Really depends on the part of the country and the facility specific policies. I've lived primarily in larger cities on the West Coast and tattoos are not a big deal even in highly professional settings provided they can be covered and are unoffensive in nature. I would say a sizable minority of healthcare staff has had tattoos that peak out of sleeves or necks.

The policy at the hospital where I do clinicals is that tattoos should be covered if possible, and if not possible to cover should not contain profanity, nudity, racial slurs, or other offensive content.

Check the specific policies for your facility, (if it has them) and at other facilities in the area you might one day want or need to work at.

Sour Lemon · Jan 18, 2017

I wouldn't do it in a place that's so difficult to cover and to keep clean while covered. Some jobs may allow it, but many will not.

pixierose, BSN, RN · Jan 18, 2017

I have a tattoo on my inner wrist, but it's small enough that my watch completely covers it up when I'm on the floor. Problem solved.

Meriwhen, ASN, BSN, MSN, RN · Jan 18, 2017

Depends on the facility. I've never bothered to check my facility's P&P as my tattoos are below my knees, and I don't wear dresses or skirts...so they're not visible anyway.

I've seen a few discrete wrist tattoos among my coworkers, but for the most part people keep their ink covered.

OP: check your facility's P&P. If they don't allow visible tattoos but you want to go ahead with it anyway, make sure it can be something that is easily covered by a watch/bandage/sleeve (clothing or pull-on)/makeup.

Extra Pickles · Jan 18, 2017

Are nurses allowed tattoos? If so, to what extent? I wanted to get a rose tattoo on my wrist but I also don't want to lose my job over it!

Another one of those It Depends posts. As for whether nurses are allowed tattoos, I suppose you could get one on your butt and dare administration to force you to remove it. But you'd have to show it to them to make sure they understood exactly what was on your butt lol!

heinz57 · Jan 18, 2017

My advice:

Wait until you are secure in your job.

Wait until you have gained, lost and regained all the weight until you are happy.

Wait until your body has sagged to a decent settling point.

Wait until you have matured enough in your artful expressions to where next year's fashion statement won't matter.

db2xs · Jan 25, 2017

My advice:
Wait until you are secure in your job.
Wait until you have gained, lost and regained all the weight until you are happy.
Wait until your body has sagged to a decent settling point.
Wait until you have matured enough in your artful expressions to where next year's fashion statement won't matter.

I would say wait until you are at least 30 years old. We change a lot as people, and hopefully you will have a better sense of your self (two separate words here on purpose) by then to know what it is you like.

Other than that, I don't really care what my job has to tell me about tattoos. I have plenty of them but cover them anyways, policy or not. As for your body, it will gain weight, lose weight, gain weight, lose weight, gain weight, ad nauseum throughout your life. If you wait for the "perfect" weight, then you'll never get a tattoo. And your body will continue sagging throughout your life: That's called nature and gravity.

Really: just find out what your institution policy is. But personally, if they can't tolerate a little innocuous rose tattoo on the inside of your wrist, then I think they must be intolerant to many other things and I would not want to continue working there.

loriangel14, RN · Jan 25, 2017

Yeah it depends on the employer. We have no rule. Lots of visible tatts and piercings.