Tattoos: the timeless art of immortalizing our favorite things or our loved ones on our skin. In the past, these skin markings have been associated with felons, lowlifes, and other undesirables. However, they have become more common through the years and, in turn, people’s acceptance toward them has also increased. Nowadays, it’s not uncommon to spot someone with a tattoo walking around the street, going to their 9-to-5, or simply going about their business in the city.

However, things are a bit different when it comes to the nursing trade, as well as the healthcare industry, in general. Due to the negative connotations that tattoos have accrued in the past, the last place where people expect to find these symbols is on the men and women charged with saving the lives of the thousands of citizens that are admitted into the hospital. However, as luck would have it, tattoos in healthcare environments have also become more accepted, and are not frowned upon as they were in the past.

When it comes to the larger, more explicit body art, it may still cause a problem with your employer, especially those that have a strict dress code. In this sense, while most hospitals will give you a chance despite your tattoos—some might ask you to cover them up, though—others will simply turn you down based on your body art.

In many cases, your eligibility as a nurse in a hospital comes down to one aspect: Making a good first impression.

In this sense, winning a job candidacy with tattoos, just like in any other occasion, hinges entirely on you doing your homework. Is the hospital accepting of people with tattoos? Do they have a strict dress code that frowns upon body art and piercings? What does the work environment look like in this place? All these questions are essential for making a positive first impression, while also for helping you determine if you’re going to be a good fit for the place. After all, the others’ acceptance towards you is not the only thing that matters for being happy in the workplace; you also have to feel comfortable around your future co-workers.

Luckily, in this day and age, it’s not difficult to find all this information (and much more) on the internet. Many workplaces, hospitals included, have their dress code available for download on their websites. Furthermore, you can get acquainted with its work environment and quality of the workplace by joining the hospital’s community portal in various social networks. The more you know about a specific hospital, the easier it’ll be to prepare for the job interview, as well as to help you fit in when you win the job.

Do Tattoos Affect My Image?

The fact that many workplaces are now more accepting of staff with tattoos and body art doesn’t mean that these elements won’t affect your first impression. In all honesty, these markings dramatically affect the image that you project in the workplace. After all, that’s basically the point of getting a tattoo. However, in the healthcare environment, these elements can actually cause more harm than good, as far as first impressions are concerned.

In a 2012 study published in the Journal of Nursing Administration, the researchers measured how visible tattoos and body piercings affected the patients’ perception of the staff. The team presented a survey to 150 hospitalized patients where they showed them pictures of nurses with no tattoos or body piercings and asked them to compare them with nurses who had visible large tattoos and non-earlobe body piercings on several aspects. The results were very clear and showed that patients viewed nurses with body piercings and tattoos as less caring, knowledgeable, and attentive, among other things, in relation to other providers.

“Patient care providers with visible tattoos and/or body piercings were not perceived by patients in this study as more caring, confident, reliable, attentive, cooperative, professional, efficient, or approachable than nontattooed or nonpierced providers,” the study read. The researchers also said, “tattooed female providers were perceived as less professional than male providers with similar tattoos. Female providers with piercings were perceived as less confident, professional, efficient, and approachable than nonpierced female providers.”

In this sense, and according to the results of this study, nurses looking to make a positive first impression should strive to cover any visible tattoos. And also, the study is more of a statement on people’s underlying prejudices than on the nurses’ quality of care, regardless of having tattoos or piercings. It’s very likely that, in the end, the quality of care will overshadow the first impression, which would help to slowly eliminate the prejudices against personnel with body art.