Now, will nurses begin to openly show their—literal—colors and piercings within healthcare facilities? Join the free Incredible Health Nurse Community to get career advice, support, and tips from experienced fellow nurses. Most patients have a mental image of how a nurse should look. According to surveys, patients indicated that they felt nose and lip piercings were affiliated with lower competence and trustworthiness ratings by both patients and medical colleagues.
Regarding tattoos, patients rated tattooed healthcare providers lower than untattooed providers. However, two things about that data: first, the researchers asked the participants how they felt about these clinicians based on photos. Also, these responses generally reflect regional bias. Yes, absolutely! In general, as long as your tattoos are small, easy to cover, and non-offensive you should have no issue preparing to become a nurse. As a result, a prospective nurse should consider several factors to determine what kind of tattoo they should get and what precautions they should take.
If a tattoo covers your entire arm, you may have issues in nursing. The industry is typically lenient, but only to an extent. However, while a tattoo that fully covers your neck or arms can present issues, some employers are accepting IF they can be covered up during work hours. Tattoos with offensive imagery are not likely to be acceptable in nursing.
For example, tattoos that have nudity, provocative imagery, or imply gang affiliation and criminal offense can all be problematic for a nurse. These types of tattoos would have to be covered up, and it would likely be seen as unprofessional by both patients and colleagues.
If you think that the content or visual of a certain tattoo could be seen as inappropriate, then you will need to find ways to conceal it. Nursing associations in the United States do not have a definitive answer on if nurses can have tattoos. As a result, most schools, hospitals, and places of work have varying nurse tattoo policies in place that employees must adhere to.
Some institutions require tattoos to be covered up, some ban tattoos of the neck, lower arms, and hands, and some ban all tattoos visible if a nurse is wearing normal scrubs or lab coats. Many tattoos that are not easily covered up, such as tattoos on the hands, are prohibited.
Hospitals, nursing homes, home health care facilities, clinics, and schools will have different types of policies, usually based on where you work and who you work with. But keep in mind, you might be asked to cover up visible tattoos. The history of tattoos and their acceptance is long and complicated, but it helps to understand that one of the reasons tattoos can be such a touchy subject is the stigma they may carry.
Decades ago, many people associated tattoos with prisoners, illegal activities, and rebellious behavior. But for older generations, many still may subconsciously think of piercings and tattoos as a mark of criminal behavior.
In these cases, these patients might not trust you or open up to you easily. Another long-held stigma has to do with the process of getting a tattoo. Although the modern tattoo process is nowadays fairly sanitary, you might find that some people view body art as unhygienic or dirty. For example, your tattoos can be an icebreaker for your patients, and that can result in better overall communication and care. Sharing your story can get patients to open up to you and trust you.
Or perhaps your patient has a tattoo and wants to share a story of their own. Regardless of how your patients view your tattoos, you may encounter family members who dislike or disapprove of body art in the medical profession.
While it can be frustrating to work with individuals who treat you negatively over your tattoo, always be professional and put forth your best efforts to develop a positive relationship. You may never see eye-to-eye, but you can still provide the best care to your patients.
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