The Problem with Boring Scrubs...

Nurses Men

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Hello all. This is my first post, but I have read some of the other scrubs threads here in the RN Dudes (my fun term for male nurses...sounds cooler) section. Like others I am a little frustrated at the lack of "dude" patterns and prints for scrubs. I understand that only one in ten nurses is an RN dude, but still that is a significant number of potential customers should a company decide to make patterned scrubs for us guys, not only in the US but globally. There are a few out there- I personally have a set of camo scrubs and a set of scrubs signifying my love for Da Bears. But still, for the most part, RN dudes are relegated to unisex and solids- which can get very boring after a while. I have put patches on my scrubs in the past (have a cool dark purple top with a Decepticon logo on it), but the point remains. So here's my question and my thought: if you got to design your own scrub pattern, what would it be? Sports? Cartoons? Fishing? Movies? Or do you just have a pattern that you think would look cool?

The pattern I have in my head personally is this: black scrub top and pants with hot rod-like orange and red flames on the shoulders and down the sides of the scrub top. Nothing real wide, just about 3-4 inches wide. Colors would start at flame orange and fade to a dark red...and the more realistic the flames the better.

What do you other RN (and LPN) Dudes think? Or do you prefer solids?

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Specializes in Outpatient Psychiatry.

The fabric and shape of scrubs does not warrant, in my opinion, patterns such as plaid, stripes, checks, etc that men typically wear. Going beyond that to include camouflage (which exists on scrubs), western themes like horses, lightning, wolves, and such, paisley, and other patterns that subcultures of men wear as a gender norm would look equally goofy on scrubs. I've seen sports-themed scrubs. I haven't seen cartoon-themed ones. Branding to include movies, rock bands, and so forth probably wouldn't work. The market is limited. I'm not sure if you can screen print your own scrubs to include whatever you want on them due to the fabric, but that's easily researched. You could probably embroider anything on them.

Personally, I think scrubs are crap in general. Women can get away with wearing a lot more in a variety of situations so as a culture I'd say it's ok for women to wear floral print, solids, angels, and similar patterns on their scrubs if not just solids as they also wear.

I'm seeing men nurses slowly adopt clothing from other professions that greatly befit the hospital setting, i.e. tactical pants worn by law enforcement, EMS, etc., embroidered polos similar to what you'd see on business casual day in a corporate tower, any kind of pants that actually have a fly, etc.

I don't work directly with patients as a RN anymore once admitted (thank the Lord!), and even now I'm wearing the 5.11 Taclite pants and a casual shirt as I sit in my office waiting for the next person to come to intake. Come on 0600! I typically dress business casual now for work as a dictum from upper management. When I worked in the hospital I wore some manlier scrubs but began adopting the 5.11s described above.

The Art of Manliness

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Maybe patterns is the wrong word. Themes might work better. I agree that scrubs are horrific. THey are definitely designed more for women- who have these things called "hips" apparently that hold them up pretty well. On that note, what's wrong with plaid scrubs? I think those would rock!

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Specializes in Critical Care, Education.

You Menz - always fussing about your appearance -

This actually has an easy solution. There are plenty of commercially available patterns for scrubs. Find a 'dressmaker' or 'seamstress' - sorry those terms are so (um, er) girlie.... I would say 'tailor', but they charge a lot more. At any rate, if you have one of those - you can have all the original designs you want. You could also make sure that they actually fit the way you want them to.

Be courageous... venture in to a fabric store & take a look at all the fabric selections you have to choose from. You could have scrubs that look like brick or wood planks - srsly. You may even end up launching a nice side business.

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Specializes in Nursing Professional Development.

OK ... I am female ... but I appreciate the OP's point of view. When my younger brother was about 10 years old, he fantasized about someday owning a black corvetter with flames on the side ... So that it would "look like he was going fast even when he was standing still."

Anyway, one of the units in my hospital adoptdc a jungle theme for its new decor a few years ago. (It's a children's hospital.) Some of the nurses who sewed offered to make everyone scrub tops out of a jungle themed fabric for the grand opening of the new space. The jungle theme worked reasonably well for both women and men. Perhaps other "geographic" themed prints would also work -- "Outer Space" ... "Desert" ... "Beach" ... "Under the Sea" ... etc

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OK ... I am female ... but I appreciate the OP's point of view. When my younger brother was about 10 years old, he fantasized about someday owning a black corvetter with flames on the side ... So that it would "look like he was going fast even when he was standing still."

Anyway, one of the units in my hospital adoptdc a jungle theme for its new decor a few years ago. (It's a children's hospital.) Some of the nurses who sewed offered to make everyone scrub tops out of a jungle themed fabric for the grand opening of the new space. The jungle theme worked reasonably well for both women and men. Perhaps other "geographic" themed prints would also work -- "Outer Space" ... "Desert" ... "Beach" ... "Under the Sea" ... etc

Exactly. Anyone want to loan me about $250,000 so I can start a men's scrub business?

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I'm female, too. Hope you don't mind me posting in here. I think the male nurses would look really cool in scrubs that looked like what the NASCAR drivers wear.

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Solids of certain colors are required in our hospital for each role, so prints are out for me. However, I do agree that there needs to be some companies doing a lot mroe market research for male scrubs. Women have so many cut/trim/shape options compared to the standard v-neck BORING for men. Pockets or no pockets? Wow - what choices!

I always thought a Kung-fu tunic style would be cool for a scrub top (complete with toggle buttons). Might even help deter some of the violent patients.

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Specializes in Outpatient Psychiatry.

Why scrubs then? Why not another uniform akin to what the maintenance guys wear? Or EMS? Anything? I'm not sure why we're stuck in a "scrubs box." They're the least functional apparel I've owned. I view them as surgery attire to be worn over or in place of whatever you were wearing before surg

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That is a very good point PsychGuy. Why not cargo pants of a certain color and polo shirts? Jackets? Personally I do think the scrubs are handy...I always make sure I have at least 9 pockets. But, like most guys, my scrubs do tend to slide downwards on a regular basis. They are unwieldy in that respect, for sure.

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