Hello everyone, I am going to be starting General Studies to become an RN in March and I had some general questions and thought that this would be the place to come!
My first question is that I have a tattoo on my forarm and I dont really know if this is a big deal or not but should I think about getting it removed? It is about 4 inches long, its just four red stars (medium sized stars)and I know without long sleeves on all the time that it is pretty easy to see. I got it a while back before I realized that I really wanted to get into the Nursing field. Of course like people told me when I got it, I am now regretting it =(
My second question is about a year ago, while working at a carryout I made an honest mistake and didn't check someones ID for a purchase of beer and got a ticket for it. It was a misdeamenor and I had to go to court and pay a $500 fine!! Boy did I learn my lesson there, I carded everyone from then on..haha. That wouldn't hurt my chances of getting hired would it? I know everyone makes mistakes but Im just curious as to you experienced folks opinions Well Thank you very much for taking the time to read my post and I will check back for your feedback.
- A Future Male Nurse

Tattoos and nursing, med, police, business. Everyone has them, often the people that you don't think. My opinion is that tattoos should be able to be covered if needed to, however in nursing you shouldn't be wearing long sleeves (so forearms are a bad idea), but I have seen a few nurses with tattoos down their arms.

Consider why you got them in the first place; is there a meaning behind them (If not make one up now). Are they inside your arm or outside (anterior or dorsal), size in cm/inch.

I wouldn't worry too much about the tattoo, or trying to get it removed. From your description it is minimal and not offensive, just don't get any move on visible locations!! How it will effect your working life is up to your workplace and their policies; many workplaces are understanding as long as it fits into their image (eg. My hospital have a corporate image, so no scrubs except in ED, ICU and Theater. Business shirts, black shoes etc.)

Just on a side note these are locations of tattoos I've seen on female nurses both good and bad (my opinion): wedding ring finger (good), ankle (ok, only saw it as we were in a seminar), full dorsal arm (bad), 'slag tag' (ok), dorsal neck (ok, can be covered with longish hair).


On your criminal case. What you did is not considered 'bad' enough for my states registration board. Although you may have a record you were not endangering lives in your actions, thus it will probably just be noted that you have a record but it doesn't need to be taken into consideration for your registration.

__________________
'Think not of yourself as the architect of your career but as the sculptor. Expect to have to do a lot of hard hammering and chiselingand scraping and polishing. - BC Forbes'