Understanding the Importance and Function of Medical Scrubs

1. Understanding the Importance and Function of Medical Scrubs

2. It’s been more than thirty years since Career Uniforms began selling functional nursing attire and in those decades much has changed. Pristine, white nursing dresses—the standard at the time—soon would become almost obsolete as form and function gave in to two additional “F” words.

3. Fashion and Flexibility. Regardless of time, scrubs should first and foremost always be about functionality. Defining what that functionality should be and which is most important is where things begin to get a bit blurred. Let’s explain. Function #1 – Range of Motion A healthcare uniform needs to allow the wearer to move with ease, in situations that are not always done with ease. Bending, pulling, lifting, and stretching sound more like an exercise routine than a work regimen. Ask anyone in the health profession and they will argue their day is just that―8 to 12 hours of intense aerobics. One―two―three―LIFT! One―two―three―BEND! It is easy to see how dresses and varying hem lengths took a back seat to the more forgiving and functional scrub pant and scrub tops. Soon, traditional scrub sets would be joined by scrub sets with more flexibility. To get stretch and flexibility you’ll want to find spandex in the blend. The more spandex, the more flex.

4. One-two-three-STRETCH! Function #2 – Protection A hundred plus years ago, nursing attire was designed to offer protection from coming in contact with patient bodily fluids as much as conceivably possible. Long sleeves, long skirts and high collars helped to mitigate these concerns (not that they varied much from other female apparel of the time). The fabric was also as thick as possible to deter penetration. Luckily, advances in fabric blends, improvements in sterilization techniques and the introduction of antimicrobial treatments for fabrics allow today’s professional to appreciate the same protection with a lot less coverage and lighter fabrics.

5. Function #3 – Pockets, pockets, pockets Aside from allowing ease of movement and protection, scrubs should be designed in form to have plenty of pockets. For the wearer, pockets are like a third or fourth set of hands. Pockets help hold the many objects nurses and other professionals must have within quick reach―such as scissors, syringes, penlights and the occasional―yet necessary―chocolate bar. When you run out of places to put pockets above the waist, then look a bit lower and put plenty on the pants. If, for functionality, your employer requires the scrubs you wear to have few or no pockets, you probably work in a prison. That’s ok—we sell those too.

6. Function #4 – Comfort It may seem that comfort would go hand-in-hand with each of the previous functions mentioned―and in some ways it does. But, comfort is about much more than just ease of movement and flexibility. It is also about how it feels upon your skin. It is about striking that perfect blend between protection for the wearer, while being breathable, soft, and well….comforting.

7. Function #5 – Fashionable and Affordable So where does fashion fit into all this functionality? Luckily, for today’s modern scrub wearer, manufacturers and designers understand fashion can be just as essential to the essential worker as functionality. Thankfully, feeling good and looking good in a scrub uniform—one that is required every day for work or school―is not as hard as it used to be. Lastly, fashionable doesn’t have to mean high-end or pricey. You can spend extra to wear a brand name but why would you? That is not functional. At Career Uniforms, we offer functionality and affordability in two of the scrub apparel lines we feature —the UltraSoft line from Spectrum―made from ultra- brushed fabric that is one of the softest in the market and Spectrum’s new WYND line―offering 6% spandex for flexibility and an antimicrobial finish for protection.

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