The present invention provides devices and methods for clearly and consistently marking a patient prior to a procedure. In particular, the invention provides a temporary tattoo for marking a patient at a site of a procedure. The tattoo may indicate any information that would be helpful to a medical practitioner clearly and consistently mark a patient for a procedure. In some embodiments, the tattoo may indicate types of information including, but not limited to, information indicative of the laterality of the procedure, the type of procedure, the medical practitioner, the institution, or the department. In certain embodiments, the tattoo may indicate the location of the procedure with a “yes”. In other embodiments, the invention provides a method for marking a patient at the site of a procedure.