Lots of threads on tattoos but....

I did a search for a tattoo thread and came up with several.... but I have a few small ones on my hands. My ring finger tattoo is covered by my wedding bands. I have tiny skulls on both of my middle fingers. And 3 hearts on the index finger of one hand. I got these tattoos years ago when I had given up on ever going back to school and starting a career. Oh the things we do when we're young and dumb. I don't regret any of my tattoos, but I want to b a nurse so bad and I'm about to spend 2 1/2 years working towards that goal. I searched the threads and because there are so many I didn't read them all. But from what i did read most said as long as you can cover them you should be ok. So I guess my question is are there any nurses out there with visible tattoos? Are my finger tattoos going to ruin my career before it even starts? I'd hate to have removed because they all mean so much to me.... but so does my future career
I have a tattoo on my thumb that i cover with a simple silver ring, but you can still see it. During my first nursing class i wore bandaids over it to cover it but they came off every five minutes when i washed my hands and i realized it was more hazardous (carrying germs) than anything. I stopped covering it and since then not one instructor, nurse, manager, or patient has said anything about it. I worried about it for awhile but now I realize that i am always clean, unwrinkled, put together and professional. that's what really counts. hope that helps

Tatoos will always be seen as "out there". IMHO, most of them are done at 18 and regretted at 30. "Young and Dumb" hits the nail on the head. Sorry. yes your visibile tattoos will hurt you in your job search. To the general population, they look cheap and cast aspersions on your mindset and morals.I'm going to get a lot of flack here, but tattoos has been first and last associated with criminals.

in my experience both as a care aide and as a student nurse, i have seen some nurses (and nursing students) with tattoos. the use of opaque or coloured gloves can often hide tattoos and thus solved the problem. perhaps, this can be an option for you as well.

There is also a makeup called covermark that is waterprooof that will cover most any tattoo that doesnt get scrubbed with a brush.

I think the only time it will impact you is perhaps in a job interview. However, our society is moving more toward a individual bias where the younger cohort is adopting a worldview more in line with "who care's". I think as the older move on and the younger move up tattoos, etc will be looked at far differently.Personally, I don't care if one assisting me is any thing but good at his/her job. So my advice is, rather than stress over your tattoos, just focus on your goal/s---all will work out in time as it should

Quote from steelydanfanTatoos will always be seen as "out there". IMHO, most of them are done at 18 and regretted at 30. "Young and Dumb" hits the nail on the head. Sorry. yes your visibile tattoos will hurt you in your job search. To the general population, they look cheap and cast aspersions on your mindset and morals.I'm going to get a lot of flack here, but tattoos has been first and last associated with criminals.

Quote from steelydanfanTatoos will always be seen as "out there". IMHO, most of them are done at 18 and regretted at 30. "Young and Dumb" hits the nail on the head. Sorry. yes your visibile tattoos will hurt you in your job search. To the general population, they look cheap and cast aspersions on your mindset and morals.I'm going to get a lot of flack here, but tattoos has been first and last associated with criminals.

I work with a few nurses who I have seen tattoos on the inside of their wrists. I haven't seen anyone have a problem with it and it certainly hasn't affected their nursing career. I personally wouldn't make it a big deal to cover them up except for job interviews. Otherwise just handle it on a person-by-person basis if your instructors or management has a problem with it. Wearing gloves, which you are supposed to do for most patient care anyways, will cover them up. Your tattoos are small so its not a big deal. Just don't get anymore visible ones .

My charge nurse has a very large one on the calf of her leg and in the hot weather she wears capris. Not a problem apparently.I work with many with visible tatoos( including a new grad they just hired) so I guess it repends on the facility. I work in a hospital. Assuming that a person is a criminal just because of a tatoo makes no sense.

Wow! As a person with tatoos, one on my upper right arm...one on each wrist which can only be covered with a long sleeve shirt which is too hot to wear as an aide or nurse...I find it very offending the way people on this thread are associating tattoos. I got a job last year as a patient care tech in a hospital just fine and I am getting ready to be nursing student next semester. Maybe it is a generational thing as I am young only 26 although no one has had any problems or said anything to me about my tattoos at my old job or in my prerequisite classes nor any advisors. I have a 4.0 gpa got an 84% on the TEAS V and I do not look like a criminal and I plan on being an excellent hard working nurse with even more tattoos. It is 2011 already people tattoos have been growing rapidly in our culture since the 80's it is time to break the stigma...honest if a place is not going to hire me because of my tattoos then I don't think I would really want to work there...I wonder if they treat their patients with tattoos as a criminal or drug addict. You know a key quality of a good nurse is being accepting of cultural difference not judging it. Ok I am done ranting now.

I worked in corrections in the past and the great majority of inmates do in fact have tattoos. A correctional officer at the prison told me that tattoos on the hands are commonly seen on gang members. Anyway, to each their own.I wish you the best of luck in finding a job with or without tattoos.

Maybe it is because I am younger, but I also don't agree about the judgmental comment that tattoos = negative stereotype. I agree that all tattoos are not created equal and you have to consider factors like size, visibility, body placement, and subject matter. I personally don't have or ever want to get a tattoo, but my hubby has one on his back that he had before I first started dating him, and it didn't get in the way of my opinions of him. I agree some tattoos do put people up for judgment for first impressions, but not ALL are criminals, or out-there, or lacking morals. Sorry for getting off track, just my on reading the other responses.