Tattoos and don’ts?

Photo: LightField Studios/Bigstock

I’m used to getting pushback whenever I write about personal appearance. After a recent column in the January 2022 issue of Veterinary Practice News, in which I discussed how changing norms are challenging traditional assumptions about professional appearance, I received an especially lengthy diatribe in response. This self-described 40-year veteran RN had a lot to say about “professional” appearance, “professionalism,” and why she’d never patronize my practice. Here’s a fun snippet:

“I personally would not be impressed with a pink-haired, pierced, tattooed employee in tacky-looking scrubs and unsafe footwear whose verbal skills also lacked a great deal. They seem to go hand-in-hand. I would not trus...