The common misconception is that scrubs are used only to identify doctors or nurses. Or to “show off” that they are doctors. In reality, scrubs making it easier to spot a medical professional in a hospital is only an inadvertent benefit!
Scrubs are a common uniform for nurses and medical professionals who work in the healthcare industry.
Scrubs are very comfortable, designed for long hours of working. They are relatively more durable as compared to other forms of clothing because they have to go through much daily. We barely see doctors wearing regular clothing is hospitals, because hospitals are prime breeding grounds for all kinds of bacteria and viruses. Nurses, in particular, come into contact with many different kinds of diseases.
Clothing has been found to transmit bacteria easily simply by encountering someone else.
It would be a disaster to wear infectious clothing to a hospital with tons of sick patients. Whether a person is sick or not, it is important to be sanitary as long as work requires coming into contact with others.
Scrubs feature a simple design that minimizes places where contaminants can hide which is why it is every hospitals requirement to at least have scrubs on in the operation theatre (OT).
Junior doctor Farah Roslan, is a Muslim, she’s undergoing her training at the Royal Derby Hospital in the United Kingdom. Roslan was faced with a tough situation, her religion was clashing with her passion to work as a doctor.
A hijab is a head covering scarf that some Muslim women wear in public. For many such women, the hijab signifies both modesty and privacy. Roslan wears a hijab everyday. Usually it wasn’t a problem but when she had to start her training in the Operation Theatre it became one.
Doctors, even the ones in training, usually have 36 hour shifts. In these 36 hours if a woman wears a hijab she’s at least wearing it for one whole day straight. This would harness germs and bacteria from all over the hospital and the outside world. Something carrying that much risk couldn’t be inside an operating room.
Roslan found herself at a crossroads, does she remove her scarf? But her religious beliefs don’t allow that! Or does she quit? But that’s her passion!
Sadly, as she couldn’t take her hijab off, she was pulled from the theatre (respectfully) to protect the patient inside and all the other ones in the hospital – and herself.
“I’d been using [the same headscarf] all day which obviously wasn’t clean and ideal,” she told BBC Radio Derby.
“I didn’t feel comfortable taking it off and I was pulled out from the theatre, respectfully, due to infection control.” She added.
So she set out to find a middle ground, where she didn’t have to forego her right and choice to wear a hijab but was also able to be a doctor and help people everyday.
She designed Disposable Sterile Hijabs! Made out of the same fabric as regular scrubs!
The University Hospitals of Derby and Burton NHS Trust are now the first in Britain to start using her creation. Now Muslim women who choose to cover their heads will be able to work easily and safely without any issues! The headscarves became available for everyone at the hospital at the start of December 2019.
“I am so happy that my vision has become a reality and that these headscarves are now available for all of the staff. I’m really happy and looking forward to seeing if we can endorse this nationally.” – Roslan.