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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Tattooed nurses

665 replies

CaptainCabinets · 23/05/2018 15:28

Would you be put off by a tattooed nurse? At the moment I’ve only got them in places a patient would never see but I do plan to add some to my upper arm in the near future.

Just want to hear your thoughts and reasons!

OP posts:
Willow2017 · 24/05/2018 13:29

What you like in your private life whether its cats, Harry Potter or flowers or anything else and you want a tattoo of them has nothing to do with your ability to do a job.

Hoist hope your employees all know how much you despise them for not being exactly the same as you.

tierraJ · 24/05/2018 13:30

I'm an HCA I choose not to have tattoos but don't mind them.

Re the Elderly folk - my late grandad had a tattoo of 2 palm trees the length of his arm after his time in the army.

Lots of very elderly people have fairly large military tattoos from the war & conscription.

Then there was the older lady who I got a bedpan for, I took down her pants as needed and there was Donald Duck! I was a bit surprised....

One of my colleagues is very beautiful, she has butterflies going down her neck & no one has ever complained as it looks pretty.

GunpowderAndLead · 24/05/2018 13:33

I wouldn't care less. They can't discriminate can they? Confused

hoistTheSales · 24/05/2018 13:34

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hugitout10 · 24/05/2018 13:35

doesnt bother me but really really bothers my elderly parents. they see it as" completely unprofessional and thuggish " .. they are early 70s.

mehhh · 24/05/2018 13:36

Definitely not and I'd think anyone who is put off by them is a knob

mehhh · 24/05/2018 13:36

Definitely not and I'd think anyone who is put off by them is a knob

hoistTheSales · 24/05/2018 13:37

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JacquesHammer · 24/05/2018 13:41

Tattoos are a personal thing and often symbolise something important. Their placement, style, artistic merit and aesthetics say a lot about the person who has them. A picture is worth a thousand words - if you have a stupid picture then there are a thousand words to describe your stupidity

With of course you being the arbiter of what is “stupid”?

I’d rather hoped people working in education were a little more erudite in their thinking than to see a non-existent link between capability and body art.

ParisUSM · 24/05/2018 13:42

hoistTheSales, I don't think I'd thrive in the kind of environment you describe, so it'd proably be a win win situation for me if you knocked me back because of tattoos.

What would you do if you employed someone and then realised they had a tatoo on their arm you hadn't seen?

DarlingNikita · 24/05/2018 13:42

The key word you used is "despite".
It was tongue in cheek, meant to reflect what (from your posts) is your attitude and thinking. I'm sure you realise that really, though.

If you pay several 10s of 1,000s of pounds a year for your child's education then you expect teachers to look a certain way and we deliver.
I wonder how much these expectations are actually started and perpetuated by you the recruiter, not the customer.

Not really. 'Didn't come across as well in the interview' is all you ever need.
I'd have thought that excellent teachers/any other professionals would politely press for more enlightening and useful feedback than that.

nursy1 · 24/05/2018 13:42

you cant compare being black with having tattoos. It is insulting. Recieving racial prejudice is not chosen

But it was relevant chavtastic in response to the idea that an nhs service user should not be challenged in any way because it’s not “caring” I have never seen a patient object to a tattoo but I have seen a couple object to care from a race they don’t like.

DarlingNikita · 24/05/2018 13:43

I’d rather hoped people working in education were a little more erudite in their thinking than to see a non-existent link between capability and body art.

That's a very good point.

ParisUSM · 24/05/2018 13:44

So now you'd sack someone because you despised them? You really do sound like a dream employer. Hmm

ICantCopeAnymore · 24/05/2018 13:45

If you pay several 10s of 1,000s of pounds a year for your child's education then you expect teachers to look a certain way and we deliver

Odd, as I've taught in two private schools and neither staff or parents had a problem. Although they were intelligent enough to realise that ink doesn't have anything to do with teaching skills.

If an incredible teacher had Hermione stroking a siamese tattooed on her neck then they'd likely not get the job over a very good teacher without the idiotic ink

What a shame for the pupils who would be missing out on an incredible teacher just because they have an image on their skin. I'm at a loss as to why you work in Education - it doesn't sound as if you're the ideal candidate for the role.

JacquesHammer · 24/05/2018 13:47

If you pay several 10s of 1,000s of pounds a year for your child's education then you expect teachers to look a certain way and we deliver

I do. At least 3 of her teacher’s have visible tattoos and another couple many piercings. Fortunately for us the management staff are able to make the choice of best staff not “this is what a teacher should look like”

imsoboredwithitall · 24/05/2018 13:49

My midwife in the throes of my labour at stage 3 had tattoos and it's the only thing I remember as I was off my nut.

But I will ALWAYS remember her, she delivered my son. I remember her more for her tattoo thou Hahahha!!!

ICantCopeAnymore · 24/05/2018 13:49

Oh yes, good point. I have four earrings in each ear and a nose stud too. I've had them since I was 16. They've never been mentioned in any professional circumstance.

derxa · 24/05/2018 13:49

I worked as a teacher and I never came across any of these amazing tattooed teachers. They sometimes had a discreet one on their foot or ankle but nothing big or coloured.

DarlingNikita · 24/05/2018 13:50

Odd, as I've taught in two private schools and neither staff or parents had a problem.

That's interesting to hear. I was kind of prepared to accept that (some) people who send their kids to private school would be a bit sniffy about tattoos.

Maybe a small minority are and they all centre around hoist's school. Grin

Incidentally, I'd love to hear the definition of a 'stupid piercing' Grin

JacquesHammer · 24/05/2018 13:55

I was kind of prepared to accept that (some) people who send their kids to private school would be a bit sniffy about tattoos

I went to private school in the 90s. My beloved history mistress had a tattoo. As did the Latin master.

My daughter is at a private school, as I said plenty there and no-one has an issue (or at least they’re polite enough not to discuss said issue Wink)

Tansie1 · 24/05/2018 13:56

hoist - 'tis a reality on MN that those with tatts rail with horror and/or aggression at the suggestion that others might feel making the decision to get something inked permanently upon a often visible part of their body (in the sure belief that they will 100% feel that particular tatt represents the soul of who they are now, and for evermore) - doesn't necessarily imply the deepest of thinkers.

People get inked for all sorts of reasons.

And others decide whether to go out with/employ/engage with those people based to a lesser or greater extent as a result of their perception of that person's choices.

I also suspect the money will be in tattoo removal in years to come!

ICantCopeAnymore · 24/05/2018 13:57

Perhaps it depends on area, or the type of school.

When I was in school, I don't recall seeing any tattooed teachers but what I do remember is that not one of the teachers were engaging or inspiring. Considering how much my parents paid for my education, and this was the case in three different private schools, as a parent I'd much rather an inspiring teacher with tattoos than a stuffy, boring teacher whose skills were debatable.

Willow2017 · 24/05/2018 14:00

Hoist
Doesnt say much for private education if teachers are not employed on thier qualifications, abilities, experience and personality but thier looks.

Yes your pretty obvious in how you look down on peope from your boasting mention of your phd when some of the people you employ dont.

I would rather my kids had a teacher who was intetested in them, passionate about teaching them all sorts during thier school lives and coveted in tatoos than some stiffed shirt with a phd who had no personality other than the 'school brand' and who doesnt connect to the kuds at all.

People are individuals and should be teaching our children to be individuals too. The more people 'conform' to avoid rocking the boat the longer ignorant prejudices continue.

Times move on. It used to be scandalous for women to wear trousers, to work after marraige, to wear lipstick. Then it was 'expected' and still is in some places that women should be caked in make up, high heels etc for work to make a pleasing impresion on customers but women are bucking that trend too. Why are tatoos so different? Just another social expectation of women to act/look a certain way to keep them in thier place.

JacquesHammer · 24/05/2018 14:01

doesn't necessarily imply the deepest of thinkers

Anyone who gets a tattoo on a whim is misguided

But at least be courteous enough to assume not everyone falls into that category...