Students call nursing school policy barring tattoos unfair w/ MSSU nursing school tattoo policy

By Scott Meeker

smeeker@joplinglobe.com

It was when she was in high school, helping care for her sick grandfather, that Tina Shadwick realized she wanted to be a nurse.

As it sometimes does, life took a different turn, and it was only after raising her children that she decided to go back to school to pursue a degree in nursing.

But Shadwick, 40, said she recently learned that there was a small issue blocking her admission into the nursing program at Missouri Southern State University: a tattoo in the shape of tulips located a few inches from her wrist.

“In a no-nonsense way, I was told that that is their policy,” Shadwick said. “They showed me in the handbook where it says the policy is no tattoos that can’t be covered by scrubs.”

Elizabeth Arnold, 26, a junior, said she encountered a similar situation.

Arnold has four tattoos that are visible: a strawberry about the size of a quarter on the back of her neck; two flowers and a lace pattern on her upper arms designed to look like the centerpiece of her wedding dress; and a butterfly on her chest.

She said she could cover all of the tattoos by wearing her hair down or in a braid, and with another shirt under her scrub top.

Both Shadwick and Arnold are taking the prerequisite classes — such as anatomy and microbiology — for entrance to Southern’s nursing program, and both planned to apply in January.

And after making inquiries with the department, both said they got the same message: Don’t bother. No tattoos allowed.

Both women say the policy is at odds with those at other area nursing schools as well as the local employers where they hope to eventually work.

‘Prohibited’

The 2009 MSSU handbook for nursing students states: “Any personal enhancement, adornment or coloring that causes undue attention to oneself is strictly prohibited. Any tattoos that are visible when attired in the student uniform (excluding laboratory coat) are prohibited.”

“Essentially, the reason for the policy is because some hospitals have a policy against tattooing,” said Rod Surber, director of public information at Missouri Southern, speaking on behalf of the nursing school. “We have to meet the highest standards so we can place our students in any institution.”