Scrubs Uniforms

Medical scrubs have come a long way. Today, surgeons and other surgery personnel wear them religiously. Additionally, other patient care provides throughout hospitals and clinics, wear scrubs, such as cheap landau scrubs, as their everyday uniforms. In fact, scrubs have become so prevalent in society, that people use them today for activities ranging from backpacking to exercising. However, what is the scrub’s place in the history of surgical attire?

Before there were operating rooms, there were operating theaters. Yes, that is right-operating theaters. These were huge rooms like today’s auditoriums. Surgeons performed the surgeries on a table, which stood on a stage. The surgeon wore street clothes, with his “uniform” being limited to an apron. It would be an understatement to say that the environment was not hygienic. The surgeon did not sterilize his tools, and his hands were uncovered during the procedure. Speaking of hands, the surgeon also did not wash his hands, prior to performing the operation.

While these conditions may seem primitive, remember that nobody had yet discovered the link between bacteria and disease. People were dying left and right, yet nobody seemed to have a logical explanation. Various scientists had only theories about the link between the microscopic organisms and sickness. However, Louis Pasteur later proved that a connection existed between certain microbes, and the high mortality rates.

A British surgeon named Joseph Lister (for whom Listerine® mouthwash was named) created practical applications of Pasteur’s “germ theory,” to surgery. After a German scientist verified that Lister’s revolutionary processes were indeed effective, surgeons throughout industrialized countries, began to use the latter’s surgical practices.

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Within time, Lister’s antiseptic system began to change significantly the way that physicians performed surgeries. In 1918, during the Spanish-flu pandemic, surgeons began to use masks manufactured from cotton gauze. Also, physicians began to wear the first rubber surgical gloves.

However, surgical clothing did not appear until the 20th century. By the 1940s, surgeons sterilized surgical tools, and were wearing surgical gowns and drapes. The first surgical clothing was white. However, this situation changed, as white reflects heat and light rays; the operating room’s lights made white too bright.

As the 20th century progressed, surgical attire did as well. Green surgical clothing had morphed from white to gray, by the 1950s. This color was easier on the eyes of surgical personnel. Then by the 1970s, surgical clothing began to resemble closely the “scrubs” that surgeons wear today. The attire of surgeons would typically include:

• calf-length short-sleeve dress
• closed-toe shoes
• cloth surgical gowns
• cotton v-necked short-sleeve shirts
• drawstring pants
• latex gloves
• masks

Within time, the term “Surgical Greens” used to label the attire would evolve into “Scrubs”-referring to the “scrubbing in” surgical atmosphere.

Surgical gear has evolved greatly from a mere apron. Today, scrubs of unending sizes, styles, and colors, are available. However, their goal has remained the same: contributing to a comfortable, hygienic environment. Remember that when you wear scrubs, you are wearing a bit of surgical clothing history!

Brent McNutt

http://www.articlesbase.com/fashion-articles/the-amazing-evolution-of-surgical-attire-from-aprons-to-cheap-landau-scrubs-710120.html

Technorati Tags: Scrub tops, Scrubs clothing

Most female Physicians, Dentists, Physician Assistants, and Nurse Practitioners wear scrubs and/or lab coats at work. Over decades, they have become such an intrinsic part of medicine that they’ve evolved into commodities – products so similar and so common that one brand is virtually interchangeable with another. In contrast to what most female medical professionals look for when purchasing clothes worn outside the medical setting, little thought is given to how their scrubs and lab coats look, fit, or feel. Perhaps even more important, is the non-verbal message that wearing them sends to patients, their families, and medical staff. The reason is simple. Until now, they had no alternative. Ill-fitting and poorly constructed scrubs and lab coats made of cheap material that begins to pill within a month of purchase – and seems to attract rather than repel stains and odors – had become so ubiquitous in medicine. Medical professionals who typically give considerable thought to the clothes they wear when not in scrubs and lab coats – accepted this reality during working hours with reluctance and resignation. Fortunately, that’s no longer necessary.

A few enterprising uniform manufacturers are successfully challenging this paradigm. Thinking outside the box, they’ve carefully blended the finest attributes women look for in tailored everyday clothes, with the newest and most relevant performance fabrics available to create the next generation of clinician style scrubs and lab coats. Perhaps the most innovative of these companies has abandoned so called “unisex” (S, M, L, etc.) sizing altogether, and replaced it with traditional (more specific) numeric sizing (6, 8, 10, etc.). That company has also introduced designs tailored specifically to not only fit but flatter the female figure. Unlike unisex sized garments, their lines of scrubs and lab coats specifically designed for women will not fit a man’s body – the truest and most practical test to see if a garment is really designed to fit a woman (one can’t help but be amused over the reality that this common sense design approach is considered revolutionary within the uniform apparel industry). The results are scrubs and lab coats that preserve the traditional look of these garments, while elevating the attractiveness, comfort, function, and durability to levels never before available. In so doing, they’ve enabled female clinicians to present themselves visually with the same level of professionalism that they provide to their patients clinically.

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Those clinicians that have already discovered these new options and purchased such next generation scrubs and lab coats have expressed their appreciation with enthusiasm and gratitude in unsolicited testimonials. The website of one of these new boutique uniform design shops includes several unsolicited endorsements that illustrate just how real – and dramatic – the response to these new scrubs and lab coats has been.

The irony is that with all the wonderful properties these uniforms possess – exquisite fabrics that feel so comfortable against the skin, special pockets specifically designed for clinicians, stain and odor repellency – they cost less than comparably finished street clothes. In fact, for less than what most women spend on a pair of jeans, they can now purchase a set of scrubs or lab coat. Helping to not only make them feel great about their appearance, it will also reinforce the high standards they maintain in their medical practice.

For those female Physicians, Dentists, Physician Assistants, and Nurse Practitioners who would like to learn more about these next generation female scrubs and lab coats I recommend medelita.

Kimberly Green

http://www.articlesbase.com/clothing-articles/the-commoditization-of-scrubs-and-lab-coats-714500.html

Technorati Tags: Scrubs clothing