Suppose you’re wondering why medical professionals wear scrubs. In that case, you should know it started in the 1940s when the medical community adopted a better understanding of how well wounds were susceptible to infection. Since then, the medical field has relied on scrubs to prevent or contain deadly outbreaks and protect patients and professionals. Scrubs do more than reduce the spread of infection, as they provide multiple functions. The following are five reasons medical professionals have made scrubs their daily apparel when on duty.
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1. Hygiene and Sanitation
Medical scrubs promote sterility and hygiene to prevent cross-contamination and infectious spread. Preventing cross-contamination is vital in the office, public, and getting home from work. Medical scrubs curb many risks.
2. Identification
Scrubs make identifying doctors, nurses, and technicians easier in a medical or hospital setting. Sometimes, severe cases enter emergency rooms with due haste, and locating the proper medical professionals on visual sight can save the seconds or minutes that make a difference in someone’s life. In some settings, doctors might wear different colors than nurses. Easy and quick identification helps visitors get the care they need quickly and efficiently.
3. Skin Protection
You already know that scrubs are designed to prevent the spread of infections and bacteria between people, but they’re also helpful in keeping bodily fluids from coming into direct contact with the skin of whoever is wearing them. Durable materials and thick fabrics protect wearers from contact with any bodily fluids that might be present. Clothing stains are inevitable in the medical field, and exposure to disease or infections is too.
4. Pragmatic Comfort
Being a medical professional can be one of the most rewarding career paths available. However, it can also be one of the most daunting. Doctors and nurses might spend hours on their feet making rounds and working with patients, and many in the profession are still burned out from the pandemic. Medical scrubs provide physical comfort to anyone wearing them, whether standing or sitting. An unrestricted range of movement happens with many scrubs but can be featured even more in gender-specific tailor-made clothing.
5. Efficiency
The global pandemic of several years ago made the necessity of scrubs more essential than they were previously in many settings and communities. Fortunately for businesses and professionals who use them, they’re very efficient. High-caliber fabric is affordable but can withstand the thorough cleanings that medical apparel is subject to. Scrubs can often last for years of constant wear and tear and washing. However, cost efficiency makes them easy to replace when the time comes.
The Standard Uniform
Healthcare workers across the medical industry have adopted scrubs as their standard uniform. When patients see you wearing them, they immediately know what profession you’re in, and scrubs are very functional clothing for those who have them on. You might buy scrubs for yourself, but you might also be an employer who provides them to your team. In all cases, there are many reasons why people in the healthcare industry have relied on them for decades.