Perception of nurse caring, skills, and knowledge based on appearance.

Objective: The objective of the study was to assess differences among perceptions of patients, nurses, nursing faculty, and nursing students regarding nurse caring, skill, and knowledge based on attire and level of visible body art.

Background: People often make judgments (positive and negative) based on how a person appears. Given somewhat more flexible dress codes for nurses, we wondered what type of perceptions a variety of stakeholders would have of nurses in different levels of attire.