Discussion: Health care workers with tattoos.

[Texasgal]

By Mary Ann Roser

AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF


Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Vickie Simpson calls herself "a child of the '80s" and takes pride in her tattoos and piercings.

"My tattoos have been rites of passage. Every time I got a tattoo I thought very hard about them," she said. "They mean something to me."

Simpson, whose e-mail address starts with "Gothgirl," has six tattoos, including her children's names on each wrist and the Sacred Heart emblazoned across her chest.

Now the nurse at Dell Children's Medical Center in Austin might have to keep them covered and tone down her piercings if the Seton Family of Hospitals, which owns Dell Children's, adopts a new dress code. The current proposal would require that tattoos be covered, piercings be limited to the earlobes and a nose stud, and color-coded uniforms be worn to distinguish nurses from aides and other staff.

Administrators at Seton, which has nine acute-care hospitals in Central Texas, were expected to approve the policy this month. But they had a lot of questions about the uniform part of the proposal, and it will be brought back at a later date for them to consider. The limits on tattoos and piercings were to take effect in January, with the uniform policy taking effect a year later, although those dates could change.

http://www.statesman.com/news/content/news/stories/local/11/18/1118tattoos.html

As an RN I am OUTRAGED by this ban! I don't have any tatts but I am seriously BOTHERED by this!

I cannot believe the audacity that somehow tattoos mean dumb, infected or irresponsible!

What say you DU? is it right? Wrong?

[DarkTirade]

1. People think certain things don't look 'professional'

so companies won't hire people who look that way, making sure that the stereotype is perpetuated.

:banghead:

[KitchenWitch]

2. I think the Seton hospitals are stepping where they do not belong.

[Texasgal]

4. Agreed, and let me tell you..

I am still on HCA's roll call. IE: When the hospitals are slow or understaffed I fill in.

I am seriously going to have to reconsider this now.

I am really pissed about this ruling. I know literally HUNDREDS of well educated, compassionate RN's and LVN's.

It's such BS!

[LeftyMom]

3. Good luck finding many people without any these days.

Hell, my Mom has more than I care to count, and she's in her fifties and works in the exciting, boundary-pushing world of Human Resources. :eyes:

[hippywife]

5. I work in a retirement center

with continuous care from independent through assisted living and a nursing facility. Many, many of our CNAs and CMAs have tats and piercings. Personally, I think it does look unprofessional and it freaks out the old folks. It doesn't help that it seems like the only folks out there filling these positions are doing it for a paycheck, and not very well at that, and not because they are compassionate people.

[Texasgal]

6. Just so I have this straight

do you think that people in general with Tattoos are not caring and compassionate people?

[hippywife]

7. Not what I was saying.

What I was saying is that almost everyone who fills these positions are just doing it for a job and are not very compassionate or called to be there. They don't do the job very well at all. If you look in the help wanted ads, the longest lists are for these types of positions, it only takes two weeks to get trained, and in this economy anyone just looking for a job is showing up. Being an RN, you can understand that nursing is the kind of thing that you should do because you truly care about people.

Lump on top of that they almost all have tats and piercings, and the old folks aren't feeling really comfortable with their living situation. They aren't out and about in the world anymore and they aren't used to seeing it. It scares them.

So, my personal feelings about it aside, I think there are certain environments where hiding them is beneficial.

Sorry if I'm not getting this across very clearly. I'm tired and prepping for a colonoscopy at the moment.

[Texasgal]

8. Personally I find that there are many uncaring

and un compassionate employees not just in health care but everywhere.

Tatts make no difference.

If geriatric patients are upset and feel as though they are not cared for adequately, perhaps it's the hiring process and not the tattoo.

[hippywife]

11. I agree that there are many uncaring people

and that tats don't make the difference one way or the other. But try going through the hiring process these days. It doesn't matter how well you pay. Many people who are applying are not compassionate about anything but their paycheck. They don't do the job and they don't care because they just go home-hopping because everyone is desperate for the help. Our HR people have gone out of their way, tried everything to find good people and even to get the marginal ones to feel like they are appreciated and make a difference in the lives of these elderly residents. It doesn't mean squat. Might as well install a revolving door.

We do tolerate the tats and piercings but it doesn't help little old folks who can't do anything for themselves and are dependent on others so desperately to be nervous about the people that are caring for them whether their fright is wellfounded or not. Like I said, many of them have been homebound for so long, they have no idea of the changes going on outside their door. They do associate such outward signs in a bad light. They pay the money to live there and their comfort should be first and foremost no matter if one agrees with them or not.

[Texasgal]

13. Seems the issue is not tattoos

but uncaring and uncompasionate people.

How do Tattoos equate into non-caring and non compassionate health care workers?

I am so sorry, but I really do not understand?

[hippywife]

15. I'm probably not explaining this coherently tonight.

But please believe me I am not associating them with uncaring people. I just don't know how best to get this across. I'm really worn out and not totally with it tonight at all.

I guess what I'm saying is that the elderly people aren't used to it, it's not the norm in their world and never has been so when they see them all the time on people who aren't taking as good care of them as they should, they do make that link and it adds to their apprehension. I have no problem with asking employees to cover them to make these people less apprehensive, which can have an effect on their overall health.

[Texasgal]

18. I am sorry. I hope your procedure goes well tomorrow.

:hugs:

I guess my big beef is that with the current state of health care, big corporate hospitals literally BEGGING for qualified workers has not a very good leg to stand on here with this ruling.

How many qualified, compassionate workers will be turned away because of this?

Would these geriatric patients like to see their RN or LVN or whomever covered in bandages? What type of perception would that cause?

[hippywife]

19. I agree it could turn some good people away

and I just don't have the answer, really. I just know these frail little folks come there, not to die, but to live and be taken care of in the little time they have remaining. Actually, so many of them are so compassionate the bandages wouldn't scare them. They would be concerned about their aide.

We have always tried to go out of our way to make our residents feel like they are at home and not in a home. Most of the industry is trending that way these days in what they refer to as "resident centered care" which takes so many things into account but has only one goal...the ease and comfort of those needing care.

It seems like such a little thing to ask to make someone in that situation feel more at ease.

Thanx for the good wishes. They are appreciated. :hug:

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

9. Stupid

I'm all tatted up and I work in a super-conservative office environment.

[realisticphish]

10. well

the accepted "professional" look does not include tattoos, and most non-ear piercings. Do I agreee? meh, but that IS the standard in the corporate world. Disagree with the standard, but this hospital isn't doing something terribly different.

And, they're not firing/not hiring people for having tattoos. They're saying they need to be covered. Not too different from requiring dress shirts, etc. It's part of the standard professional dress code :shrug:

Again, I couldn't care less if someone has a shitload of tattoos, unless they're incredibly cliched, like tribal sleeves, barbed wire arm bands or something like that ;)

[Texasgal]

12. How do you cover a whole arm tattoo?

Hands? Neck?

ON edit: I've heard that personel will now cover these with bandages.... how does that work as far as patinet perception?

Do you want your Nurse to show up with a whole arm or neck covered in BANDAGES?

[realisticphish]

14. sometimes you can't

and, like it or not, that's the way the corporate culture is. When you get a tattoo that cannot be easily covered, you're pretty much canceling out any future bank manager jobs. Again, I don't really think that's fair, but that's reality. Can the culture change? Perhaps... a larger percentage of people are getting tattoos that in the past. But it's going to be a while before face/neck tattoos, etc, are acceptable in the professional world.

Not my standard, but it IS theirs

[Texasgal]

16. What's bad is that there is a MAJOR

shortage of RN's and LVN's. The quality of care goes down by having LESS personel to care for the masses.

Corporate or not, HCA should be concerned about keeping what they have and not freaking out over body ink.

[realisticphish]

17. yeah

and therein lies a good challenge to it. And I have a feeling that most places would roll their eyes and ignore the policy unless the big cheeses were around

[DBoon]

20. tattoos are a proxy for values and attitudes that corporate types don't like

It is an easy way for them to screen out possibly non-conformists among the workforce, the people with minds of their own, who value self expression and hence may cause trouble for management

just my theory