Scrub Fit Guide: How Scrubs Should Fit Medical Personnel
When it comes to healthcare scrubs, it’s important that healthcare professionals wear clothing that fits properly. After all, you need to be comfortably dressed to withstand long hours of providing medical care to a variety of patients. Scrubs must provide the right level of coverage to anyone working in a healthcare environment as well, as it can often be a challenge to find a set of scrubs that both fit well and offer the right level of protection.
Medical personnel have enough on their minds without having to worry about trying to find scrubs that fit properly. That’s why we’ve created this guide on how to find the best-fitting scrubs that will provide you with the right level of protection and offer you the best comfort possible for your next shift.
How Scrubs Are Supposed to Fit
A “good fit” can be subjective for many. It’s often based on personal preference after all, and that will change from one individual to another. At the same time, there are some specific requirements for well-fitting scrubs, including the two most important ones: comfort and support for wearing layers.
Comfort
Comfort is a major component of finding well-fitting scrubs. You need to ensure your scrubs aren’t so tight that they’re uncomfortable to wear, but you don’t want them so loose that they’re getting in the way of completing your tasks. Pay close attention to your body size and shape and ensure you understand the differences between the types of fabric that scrubs are made out of. Poly/cotton blends, such as our Gold Level Landau Scrubs, are often the most comfortable to wear, as they offer some extra elasticity as well as durability. It’s also important to have multiple size options, ranging from XS – 5XL and tall and petite like our scrub line, to ensure your staff has the ability to find the right fit for layering if or when necessary. Taking note of your body shape and the unique variances in fabrics used in scrubs will help you find the most comfortable set for you.
Support for Layers
Ideally, everywhere you work will have perfect climate control and you can wear your scrubs without the fear of being uncomfortably cold. However most healthcare settings lean colder, and that means it’s smart to wear scrubs that leave room for placing layers underneath. You don’t want to spend an 18-hour shift shivering because you can’t wear layers under your scrubs. Alternatively, if you prefer layering over, ensure your provider can get you a warm-up jacket option.
Bulky Scrubs – a Thing of the Past
The quintessential scrub used to be bulky, baggy apparel not necessarily designed for petite healthcare workers nor offering the size selections for tall or plus sizes.
That’s changing, though. Many scrub manufacturers are altering their approach to their clothing design, working instead to create more fitted scrubs that are conscious of the sizes and shapes of real people’s bodies. These new generations of scrubs are less baggy, more comfortable, and — most importantly — they let you spend less time worrying about adjusting your scrubs and more time focusing on what matters most: your patients.
Laundering Scrubs
It’s important to point out that, although scrubs have come a long way from the basic, bulky materials of the past, all scrubs are not created equal. It is not uncommon to see fun, bright patterns or funky, unique designs on scrubs, but these trendy materials are not made to withstand commercial laundering or repeated heavy use. These scrubs are not always durable enough for the demands of repeated use in a healthcare environment. Very trendy scrubs may fall apart after a few washes, and home laundering is never a good option, particularly when it comes to proper sanitation.
That’s because home laundering lacks the ability to appropriately decontaminate your materials and may contribute to the further spread of bacteria. It also has the added risk of bringing a contaminated item of clothing out of the healthcare facility and into your home. Therefore, it is vital to ensure your scrubs are properly laundered in an HLAC-certified facility and follow infection prevention processes that are designed for the healthcare industry.
Bottom line? Durability and utility matter most. Skip those ‘super cute’ spandex scrubs and use scrubs that are made to withstand everyday use and laundering.
Navigating Varieties of Scrubs
Today, healthcare professionals have a wide variety of scrubs to choose from. There are nearly endless color options for one, but the styles of scrubs in play today have become widely varied, offering higher levels of versatility. Anyone who wears scrubs for a living can now get a set of scrubs that should fit comfortably, offering you a full range of motion without getting snagged on anything in your environment while still looking professional. Durability is also important, as scrubs typically are worn for long shifts and get washed repeatedly, so long-lasting materials are also ideal.
Inventory Management
It’s a well-known healthcare challenge that scrubs walk.
In a situation where you’re responsible for scrubs management for a healthcare facility, it can get both complicated and expensive to control inventory. Order too much and your storage areas are filled with unneeded scrubs in the wrong sizes that may take away from other budgetary needs. Order too few, and your staff is stressed wondering if they’ll have clean scrubs for their next shift. Not to mention that each staff member has to have their specific size in stock when they need it.
It is for this reason that many healthcare managers end up relying on a linen inventory specialist, such as ImageFIRST Healthcare Laundry Specialists to oversee the provision of clean scrubs to their staff on an ongoing basis. In this way, the exact right number of clean scrubs are always available in the right size — helping to manage costs and allowing staff to focus on their patients instead of what they’re going to wear.
Another advantage of leaning on an expert partner for inventory management is that your scrubs always look pristine. The right partner will hand-inspect each scrub and automatically replace the ones that have reached the end of life.
It’s important to choose a provider with a strong background in the industry and one that can provide appropriately-sized varieties of scrubs that fit your staff. An Additional benefit of having a well-dressed staff with ample access to quality scrubs is that your facility will present a more professional image to your patients and visitors.
Turn to ImageFIRST for Your Fitted Scrub Needs
If you’re on the hunt for the best in healthcare uniform management, your top choice should be ImageFIRST. As a premier provider of healthcare linen rental and laundry services, we can work with your facility to create a customized scrubs management system that will ensure your staff will be able to do their jobs comfortably with durable, well-fitting scrubs no matter their body shape or size.
We offer healthcare scrubs and warm-up jackets from a variety of manufacturers made from a comfortable, easy-to-wear poly/cotton blend in a range of colors. Available in women’s, men’s, and unisex sizes, ranging from size XS to 5XL, our scrubs can accommodate any body type, including plus-size, all without sacrificing the ability of staff to move or perform their duties. Our program options offer affordable worry-free management and laundering services, ensuring that your staff is dressed appropriately at all times.