ProNurse

Is it against the rules to have piercings if you are a student nurse?

I have my navel, tongue, nipple and other places pierced. (I also have tattoos.) Nothing that you can see in uniform.

What about just navel piercings? No one can see.......

I have a nose piercing only wear a little stud I have only ever had compliments about it from patients,I don't wear any other jewellery at work except for my wedding ring. Body piercings are less harmful than some rings I have seen on some nurses.I  have colleagues who have tattoos the females you don't see. the men you do some are mature students who may have been in the forces and had their tattoos since then. It's so common nowadays for people to have piercings and tattoos that nobody bats an eyelid!And providing they are not ahealth hazard or don't interfere when hands on I don't see the problem.I have colleagues who have brightly coloured hair and the patients love it it gives them a laugh!!!There are good and bad nurses no matter what they look like as long as they are clean and their uniform or if in muffty are washed and ironed.

I have two tatts and did have one peircing - my nipple - but had to remove it when i tore it and it wouldnt heal properly.  I don't think you should get any tattoos or peircing while training, or at least near to a placement time as a healing tatt is an open wound and a new perircing is the same.  Both my tattoos are in hidden places from patients but the one on my chest can sometimes be just seen through my uniform.  I don't think it's offensive, as a line from Romeo and Juliet I find it's quite a nice talking point!  ALso the one on my leg, can be seen in my photos on here, the Eye of Ra is interesting because of it's links to ancient egyptian mathematics. 

I cirtainly don't see anything wrong in nurses having tatts and peircings, so long as they're respectful.  Nor do I see a problem in having pink hair, but I know a lot of people do!  SO long as you can do your job and are hygeinic do stereotypes have a role in modern nursing?

Anonymous says ...

I've got my tongue, ears, tragus and nose pierced and have two tattoos. The tattoos can't be seen but the piercings can, although I'm careful about the tongue stud and people never notice.I only wear small earrings or studs I had them all through my training and it was fine, and the only time I had to remove them since qualifying was when we had an inspection. Why does it create a bad image for nurses? As long as we are clean and tidy I can't see a problem with it. Sometimes I think people should be less hung up on appearance and worry more about actual nursing. If I was a patient I wouldn't care, I'd just want a decent nurse.

It is a good question so I will be as candid as I can.

The majoity of our patients are over 65 . To them piercings and tats are threatening. And I have to be honest - it just does not look professional.

MY  patients are all over 65 most who have tattoos (male) when I worked with women all over65 there was one woman who was a retired nursing sister she was 82 and it transpired she had a tattoo on her bum she got it done when she finished her training.She remarked that she hadn't seen it for years so we took her to the changing room to have a look in the full length mirror, she was delighted

we banned piercings at our trust. there were a few comments made by patients and relatives who thought they looked disgusting and unprofessional. they are also an infection control risk. i used to have a belly piercing but i got mrsa in it and had to take it out! although no-one could see it under my uniform it was still an infection risk and i would not put any of my patients at risk!

i agree that elderly patients feel threatened by the tattoos and piercings but it's other patients too that fell the same way. nurses are advocates and are supposed to be pillars of the community and by having multi coloured hair and piercings is not the image that is portrayed by florence nightingale.

if i were a patient i would hate to see nurses with piercings and bits of dinner stuck in their tongue piercings! we need to be professional at all times and this just adds to the already mounting negative press that nurses are receiving.

I watch many hospital programmes, for example : peoples hospital, hospital 24/7, the real ER and many more. An awful lot of their staff have tattoos, they are not even covered up for tv so i suppose some places dont mind, these are just the programmes i watch on the tv so there are many out there with them working in a professional environment. If they are removed (piercings) and can be hidden, then it will obviously look more professional but in general I personally dont think tattoos are detrimental to services provided. What looks 'disgusting' in one persons opinion may look like a work of art in another. In general you are told from day one - only a small stud allowed for nursing so thats what it should be, as for the tattoos, there isnt alot you can do about them except cover them up. In any professional environment we should all look professional and keep to whats required for all looking like a team, thats my opinion. I dont mind tattoos or piercings, i have a tattoo myself but its well hidden if need be! (tummy).

Have a look at your hospitals policies and see what they state. The majority of hospitals have banned piercings. No matter what people think they do look hideous and unprofessional. What would it look like if every nurse had facial piercings? As said previously we have to maintain a professional status and piercings are not the way to go.

Re the Florence Nightingale comment.

It is a great shame that nurses aren't taught her model anymore. If they were there would not be starving patients, dirty wards, patients lying in their own excrement..

Think I am a "handmaiden"-quite the opposite. Florence Nightingale  was a great pioneer and a doctors sap she wasn't. Go to the Florence Nightingale Museum. Read her notes on Nursing - probably the biggest amount of common sense written and very relevant today!

That woman was the ultimate in patient advocacy - I love her . She is my complete heroine. She achieved so much and was very fiesty!

When I applied for my job at the local hospital, I was told there was a very strict code of dress. Besides a clean and tidy (issued) uniform, flatish black enclosed shoes, only 1 ring was allowed, no neck jewelery ond only one small pair of stud earings.

I have noticed that other staff have wear necklaces, discrete nose studs and top ear studs as well as some in their tongue, one member of staff even wears backless shoes. I have also seen male nurses and female catering staff with tattoos on their lower arms which cannot be covered by uniform.

I remove all my rings apart from my wedding ring (which upset my husband) and the rest of my jewelery. You cant see my tattoos/piercings under my uniform and wear 'sensible' shoes for comfort.

It just seems a little hypercritial that some can dismiss the 'rules' completely - while others do their best to stick to it. Saying that, as long as the quality of care doesn't suffer and H&S guidelines are adhered to, I cant see a problem with any form of self expression.

I don't think they can stop you, unless the tattoos are derogotory or offensive?

I am a professional. As I said before you don't see other professions with tattoes and piercings. I am sorry if this is a problem for anyone but if you are aprofessional you do have a certain image to maintian and if that makes me small minded then so be it.

Lets put it this way ... if I was interviewing 2 candidates - both of equal standing and merits and one of them had piercings on their face - I would go for the other one.

Image IS important in our profession.

  <you wrote: I am a professional. As I said before you don't see other professions with tattoes>

I'd have to disagree on this as well, they are not a problem in many other professional/statutory organisations.

I am aware that some people can find tattoos intimidating, but this thread has given me an idea of what I might come up against working within the NHS.

I checked the NHS dress codes today and I should be OK with my tattoos in terms of regulations, I'll just have to trust that (as has happened without fail throughout my career) I find a manager who sees into my heart rather than the wrapping!

I personaly do not think tattoo's and peircings should be like hidden. But there are patients who will feel uncomfortable and in a way we as nurses (and in my case student nurse) we have to appear generic i beleive. When we start shift we shouldnt necessarily be our own person and thats what this industry has made it seem. I personally do not agree.

I have my tongue, lip, tragus peirced and no one has said anything. I take out my lip peircing. But ive seen nurses with visible tattoo's.

if your tats get covered then go for it!!