It’s common to see scrubs in the medical field and scrubs are worn by nurses and other medical professionals. There are a number of benefits of wearing scrubs.
Help Identify Potential Contaminants: Scrubs can help medical professionals identify contaminants, such as stool, urine, blood, vomit, and other fluids since most scrubs are a solid color. Depending on the different healthcare facilities, there may be guidelines on which colors can be worn, such as blue or white, in order to better identify any contaminants. Some facilities have less stringent policies that allow medical professionals to wear different patterns and colors.
Cleaned Under Harsh Conditions: Scrubs need to be cleaned under harsh conditions and there is usually high temperature water and special cleaning chemicals involved. This type of cleaning is going to be harsher than anything that is used to clean any personal clothes. Scrubs are manufactured to withstand the harsh washing that is needed for contaminants to be removed properly.
Prevent Personal Clothing from Being Ruined: Wearing scrubs means that medical professionals don’t have to wear their own clothing. With the number of contaminants that can be in a hospital or doctor’s office, it’s likely at some point that any personal clothing could come in contact with bodily fluids, such as vomit or blood. By not having to wear personal clothing and instead wearing scrubs, any personal clothing is protected. Personal clothing is likely to be more expensive than scrub sets.
Cleaner than Regular Clothes: Many healthcare facilities will clean their own scrubs, so it means that scrubs are likely cleaner than any personal clothing a medical professional has. This helps ensure that professionals aren’t carrying around any potential contaminants or germs on their clothing as they are seeing patients. This minimizes the opportunity for both professionals and patients to give each other germs that can be carried from person to person.
Affordable: Scrubs are affordable, so it makes them disposable if they need to be, even though they can be cleaned. If they are ever ruined, they can be replaced without a big cost to the healthcare facility or individual.
Easy Accessibility: Many scrubs offer a lot of pockets, which makes it easy to carry around equipment and tools. Professionals can use the pockets to carry writing utensils, notepads, smartphones, swabs, gloves, or other equipment that may be necessary to perform duties. The type of scrubs that can be worn will depend on the facility, so not all of them will be able to take advantage of the pockets. Even basic scrubs do have some storage space.
Help Identify Professionals: Just as firefighters and police wear uniforms, scrubs help identify medical professionals in the work place. Certain facilities may require different scrubs for different professionals. Doctors may wear one color, while nurses may wear another. They may also color coordinate based on different departments. The different colors can make it easier for everyone to be identified and makes it easier for doctors to identify nurses.
Uniformed Healthcare System: In addition to making it easier to identify, scrubs create a more professional and uniform appearance. This also ensures that medical professionals aren’t wearing personal brands or designs that could detract from the setting they are in.