no, I don't think it rude. In fact, I am wanting to get another one, any suggestions???

1) I'm from the same generation as cdnurse and I just got a tattoo! 2)we were taught in nursing school not to wear perfume when working. Alot of people have allergies and are highly sensitive to it. I have asthma and some strong colognes will set it off.

I personally do not have nor desire to have any tattoos. However, since as others cited the majority of society seems to be enamored with Body Art, I am working on being more sensitive to their way of thinking. My first reaction is almost always negative-sorry its a gut reaction. But because I have known some really great people who choose to have tattoos, I know that judging by appearances is a lousy way to judge. Live and let live. As long as you are putting the ink on you and not me not really my business. I do think they should be covered in the workplace if you are in the health care profession. It just is not professional looking. But if you want to show off at the beach or in general public thats your business. Some of the tattoos I have seen are quite beautiful, some are just tacky and cheap. I have always wondered how happy people are with their tats 20 or 30 years later though?

Hahahaahaa, my mama got her first tattoo at age 45 and now she has three!

I actually have heard of people being very allergic to tattoo ink... I have a friend who got a silly arm band of Pac-Man and the ghosts from the video game... he was horribly allergic to the light-yellow and now it just looks like Pac-Man, three ghosts, and a disgusting blob. I hear white has a lot of problems for some people too.

As for makeup, I was talking about tattoo cover-up makeup... as for daily life, I usually only wear mascara and maybe a little bit of eye shadow. I'm very freckly but otherwise have been blessed with perfect skin so I don't wear anything on my face. I don't wear perfume in health-care settings because I think it's distracting and I know certain scents don't have the same positive reaction depending on who is smelling it. I figure a lot of daily soap and water :)

can medics post in here too?

@docv72.....thanks for the heads up on this thread. I am WAY tattooed, and have no issues at work. I quit counting at 30-40 hours worth of ink to include a set of wings smack dab in the middle of the back of my neck and a 3/4 sleeve that will probably become a full sleeve. Most people who see me covered assume I am a straight laced, professional type. The tattoos are a great contrast and help break the ice very quickly in many instances with both my patients and staff at sending hospitals. Like anything else, this is about cultural diversity. Tattoos are quite literally here to stay. To the original post? Keep 'em covered in the interview....but don't be afraid of them once you know the culture and uniform policies of where you work.

I hope that no one was offended (dmaze?) by my previously stating that cd was more on the conservative side...the little dig about the generational thing was just a joke.

As the "younger" generations grow-up, tattoos are not going to be seen as such a big ordeal, however I do think that unless you work in say, a garage, they should be covered appropriately. I got my first tattoo (a dragon on my upper back) when I was 16. I don't regret it at all, but I can see how people would find "body art" to be offensive.

DaMomb, I just wanted to make it very clear, I'm not conservative LOL

michellegtcc said:

PrincessQ said:

I think tattoos should bec covered if there are to many as should body piercings. Lets remember we are professionals and as a health care provider you should inspire confidence not leave you patient wondering if you need a bath or know what your doing.

That is a stereotype.....I have many tattoos and i bathe everyday if not 2 times a day.......if we could all not stereotype people like this the world would be a better place.............

al you are once again right one. I am not easily frightened. The first patient I had with a swastika tattoo chilled me to the bone. I have had several since then with the swastika tattoo. I find it very offensive and also find it very hard to not be judgmental. Very awkward as this tattoo is all about hate. I have learned from my spiritual teachings and from my own beliefs that we should not be judgmental but this is an extremely difficult ideal to follow when you see this up close and personal. I cannot tolerate hate and cannot tolerate stereotyping. Yet, when I see this tattoo I have the stereotyping and horrible feelings that I abhor in others.

I've only been able to fit one tattoo into the budget, so far. I'm a Star Wars geek...have been since 1977, so it was only natural to have a Star Wars tattoo for my first. It' s the Rebel symbol in my avatar. A Kanji arm band will be next whenever I can afford it. I had no clue how many of my colleagues are tattooed until I started thinking about getting my own. Tats may make some think of Joe Dirt, but people like my clinical manager and the Director of the education department are inked as well. The lower back tats on women do something for me. My personal opinion.

I've thought about getting a tattoo, but need to figure out where to put it so it won't sag!. Imagine being a 90+ in the nursing home and having the staff wonder what kind of hell-raiser you were as a youngster. It loses the impact when they have to stretch the skin to read it.

First of all, I try to stay away from any "religious" references in my posts, so if you wish to feel you've been "chosen" I'm not going to refute it, other than to say, we are women and men first, which was my point. The rest of it was to bring home, we're individuals with different perspectives in life and just because we're nurses we do not all think, see, feel, experience everything the same way. It was a gentle way of trying to get the younger ones here to see, some of us older nurses have experienced tattoos differently, don't see them as "art" but as hateful, nasty, low class, dirty, trailer trash and gang mentality.

al, I'm not sure how the rest of your post had a thing to do with tattoos either, but oh well.

I was at my elementary school today, and I realized that I must be good at covering up tattoos in a business setting, because one of my teachers was telling me today about a "disgusting!" mass e-mail she had received that had lots of pictures of people with tattoos, body piercings, skin implants, etc. :)

margaritka- I think it's kinda of funny when people go off about how ugly and disgusting tattoos are and I am standing there and they have no idea that I have 3 tattoos!! I do not "look" like I would ever step foot into a tattoo shop, much less get 1. It makes me laugh to see their face when I tell them!