Are scrubs color coded? Where's the key?

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theWUbear

theWUbear

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I've thought about apologizing for the stupid question and asking a random person wearing uniquely-colored scrubs at the hospital what their color represents...but that's what SDN is for :rolleyes:

Dark blue? Light blue? Green? Maroon? Are there regulations for these? Does it vary from hospital to hospital? State to state?
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Sorry, no color code across institutions. Each hospital department decides what color scrubs to order for the sake of department cohesion (and enhanced likelihood of getting them back from the laundry). It's possible some hospitals order all one color for every department to use (though I haven't seen it myself.)
 
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There aren't really 'regulations' per say, it's more that a department just pics a color palate. Usually this is done to help decipher who is who. In a hospital where you see so many people, it allows them to be color coded. Although it ends up with people saying "my nurse was wearing the magenta scrubs". And every nurse is wearing those scrubs. So I'm not sure how useful it is.
 
J DUB said:
Pink is for girls.....;)
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yay for pink scrubs! no color code at my place. no dress code either. scrubs are optional. but yeah, who wants that nastieness all over anything else?
 
At the hospital I volunteer at there doesn't seem to be any kind of code.
 
Of the two hospitals closest to me, one is color-coded, one isn't and the staff can wear whatever. IIRC the color-coded hospital had RNs in navy blue, LPNs in green, and respiratory therapists in gray. It was definitely easier from a patient/visitor standpoint.
 
From what I've seen, I think that ugly aqua green seems to be universal for surgeons.
 
At this one military hospital, most people wear whatever uniform is in season but for those that wear scrubs, pink is reserved for anybody that comes in contact with infants (for infant security purposes) and green is for everybody else. People that work in the ER wear these heavy duty military issue coveralls, I think they just want to look hardcore.
 
TexasPhysician said:
Go to the third floor. Go into the supply closet. Look up. Let me know what you find.
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I have gotten nurses scrubs before and they are all the same color. However, a lot of nurses and CNA's seem to wear their own scrubs with designs etc. Of course you can always tell who the doctors are because they wear white coats. The physical therapists don't seem to have a uniform, and either wear regular clothes or scrubs.

I am on a small unit though (rehab/med-surge overflow), so it may be different in other units.
 
SketchsaurusRex said:
At this one military hospital, most people wear whatever uniform is in season but for those that wear scrubs, pink is reserved for anybody that comes in contact with infants (for infant security purposes) and green is for everybody else. People that work in the ER wear these heavy duty military issue coveralls, I think they just want to look hardcore.
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What do these "heavy duty military issue coveralls" look like? You got any pics?
 
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you know if they just considered moving from that weird sea foam greenish color to a dark blue, no guys would have the "pee dribble" problem that came up in that thread a few weeks ago :p
 
At the hospital i work, the Docs wear whatever they want, the nurses wear navy blue, the cna's/pct's wear seal blue and pretty much everyone else either wears hospital scrubs or whatever they want.
 
chman said:
I have gotten nurses scrubs before and they are all the same color. However, a lot of nurses and CNA's seem to wear their own scrubs with designs etc. Of course you can always tell who the doctors are because they wear white coats. The physical therapists don't seem to have a uniform, and either wear regular clothes or scrubs.

I am on a small unit though (rehab/med-surge overflow), so it may be different in other units.
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Ya know you would think the white coat denotes doctor, but these days everybody from the dietitian to the DNP whose doctorate was online wears one.
 
I have yet to see dark blue scrubs, but I have seen black ones. Those look really intense.
 
at my hospital its pretty color coded so you always know who you're dealing with. The nurses that come into contact with the babies (as well as the volunteers and anyone basically on that floor) have pink badges instead of the regular blue RN ones.
 
Bacchus said:
Penn nursing is dark blue.
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Yes, sorry. I've seen (nursing) students in dark blue, but never hospital staff. Same for students in green and maroon.

I know you're supposed to swipe out new scrubs each day and and then return them at the end of the day because of sanitary concerns, but I see so many people go home in their scrubs. Does the hospital try to enforce this or does nobody care?
 
In the hospital where I work, my department (surgery) wears green scrubs. Sugery department (green) includes operating rooms, ambulatory surgery, PACU (post anethesia recovery unit), ADU (admit discharge unit), and SPD (sterile processing department). Also the radiology guys that operate the c-arm in the OR use our scrubs. The Cath Lab uses blue scrubs. Everyone else up on the floors has personalized scrubs (no uniformity).

For the operating room we have to have our scrubs washed in special detergent. We're allowed to buy our own scrubs, but it is a hassal to give them to the cleaning people to wash and get them back so only a few people bother personalizing their scrubs.
 
FloatOn said:
Yes, sorry. I've seen (nursing) students in dark blue, but never hospital staff. Same for students in green and maroon.

I know you're supposed to swipe out new scrubs each day and and then return them at the end of the day because of sanitary concerns, but I see so many people go home in their scrubs. Does the hospital try to enforce this or does nobody care?
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Most places I've been have the 3 sets rule out rule. Basically if you are too lazy to change you can just wear them home and exchange them the next day (with 1 buffer set).
 
In the two hospitals I have volunteered at there were color codes. Maroon was for scribes, green for techs, blue for nurses, and teal for docs. X-ray techs wore a light blue. Some docs wore suits and stuff, they are docs that were specific for patients though and were called in. The only docs I've seen not wearing lab coats are residents, and even most residents wore lab coats.
 
My hospital is color coded. I've also been in hospitals where this isn't the case, and it is honestly confusing. you don't know who anyone is! at ours,
royal blue =RN
light blue= LPN
Techs/CNA's/secretery=wine
respiratory therapy= green
transport=black
housekeeping= raspberry
doctors wear whatever they want, although we (staff) appreciate it when they wear a lab coat or scrubs so we know they are docs and not just "some dude."
 
7starmantis said:
What do these "heavy duty military issue coveralls" look like? You got any pics?
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like this

NAVYCOVERALLS.jpg
 
Aqua green for surgeons. Gray's for techs. Multicolored with roses and teddy bears for nurses.

Medicine generally wear casual dress and a lab coat.
 
FloatOn said:
Yes, sorry. I've seen (nursing) students in dark blue, but never hospital staff. Same for students in green and maroon.
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No, Bacchus meant that Penn nurses wear them (not just students). And to keep it provocative, the nursing students wear white coats. I was actually going to respond to the dark blue scrubs comment but s/he beat me to it. And yes, black scrubs would be pretty badass

They should just make everyone get different face tattoos :cool:
 
I agree that scrub color codes are different for each institution. Departments within an institution will vary in their tolerance for students who wear the wrong scrub color. In addition, if you wear the right color, but with the wrong institution label on the scrub, you might also get the "look". :rolleyes:
 
how well do you think these two navy women would fare on the attractiveness effects on acceptance to med school thread?

lol
 
4X4MD said:
how well do you think these two navy women would fare on the attractiveness effects on acceptance to med school thread?

lol
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On a scale of 1 to 10, maybe 2? And I'm being generous. :laugh:
 
BlueElmo said:
On a scale of 1 to 10, maybe 2? And I'm being generous. :laugh:
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your too kind

i think they would have a slightly larger advantage if they were placed on the scale that measured the males...no?
 
4X4MD said:
how well do you think these two navy women would fare on the attractiveness effects on acceptance to med school thread?

lol
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They're about standard issue navy... I apologize for posting such a large picture of two random navy girls as well, especially in a topic about hospital uniforms that few people in this thread will actually have to encounter or wear.
 
Mackey said:
They're about standard issue navy... I apologize for posting such a large picture of two random navy girls as well, especially in a topic about hospital uniforms that few people in this thread will actually have to encounter or wear.
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ive seen plenty of attractive cadets...key word: cadets...i did rotc myself a year before receiving a medical DQ...how ironic
 
I'm quite attracted to the one on the left.

Must be the gay side of my brain speaking.
 
At VCU/MCV, the dental students wear scrubs that are color-coded by their year. They are apparently assigned first year and your class keeps the color until graduation. I believe the colors included purple, burgundy, dark blue, and a bright green. Imagine if you were a guy and your class got the purple scrubs...
 
chman said:
I have gotten nurses scrubs before and they are all the same color. However, a lot of nurses and CNA's seem to wear their own scrubs with designs etc. Of course you can always tell who the doctors are because they wear white coats. The physical therapists don't seem to have a uniform, and either wear regular clothes or scrubs. .
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Like DrBowtie said, at my hospital, white coats don't mean anything. I thought this one lady was a med student because she was wearing a really short white coat, only to find out that she's a dietician. We have RNs that wear white coats as well.

There's no dress code at our hospital. The surgery staff (from the OR on, not the preadmit people) wear the standard issue scrubs, which are light blue at our hospital. But they're available to anyone who wants them, so we have people in all different departments wearing them. Everyone else wears whatever scrubs they choose to buy. Yes, it gets confusing, especially when you can't see a namebadge to see their title, but I'm usually pretty safe, since I always walk in with my tray.

At the hospital I used to volunteer at, they went color coded. I don't remember what all the areas wear, but I know that both CNAs and phlebotomists were assigned peacock blue. So, every time a phleb would go to get blood, the patient would think they were a CNA there to help them move or something.
 
DrBowtie said:
Ya know you would think the white coat denotes doctor, but these days everybody from the dietitian to the DNP whose doctorate was online wears one.
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Bacchus said:
Or the 1-hr photo technician at CVS...
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mvenus929 said:
Like DrBowtie said, at my hospital, white coats don't mean anything. I thought this one lady was a med student because she was wearing a really short white coat, only to find out that she's a dietician. We have RNs that wear white coats as well.
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Yea, I guess that's true. I guess one needs to look at the letters on the breast now adays to be sure.
 
At the last hospital I worked at it was color-coded by department
ceil blue=surg & related (PACU, etc)
dk green=ER
pink=NICU/maternity ward
lab was going to be brown..bleh


Hospital I work at now there does not seem to be color-coding, there are hospital-owned scrubs just in ceil blue and everyone else pretty much besides OR/ER wear their own.

As for lab coats, many LAB PROFESSIONALS wear them. I don't see why people get confused on this topic.

Both the hospitals I have been at recently have coats with patches and those without. Here patches say "Lab Services" or soemthing along those lines. Most of the doctors I see wearing lab coats have their name and department embroidered on.
 
At the hospital I work at, there's no dress code. You've got nurses, techs, even housekeeping wearing whatever scrubs they want to wear. The doctors usually wear something nice with a white lab coat...but dieticians also wear white lab coats. It's really hard to tell who the heck anyone is where I work. Pt's sometimes mistake housekeeping for nurses. It's ridiculous.
 
i have to wear wine as a tech. cant wait till june/july so i can burn these things. neve rwill wear this color again haha
 
I'd love to see a physician in scrubs with a design like you would see nurses or aids wear. Maybe some nice Elmo or butterfly scrubs. :cool:
 
Green scrubs= hospital owned. (Pink for NICU) They're the only ones with a real color- intended for surgical personnel. The confusion comes when residents steal them because they're so cheap.
 
At the hospital I shadowed at, you could either use the scrubs that they provide there (which was the light blue) or you could wear your own scrub. Color meant absolutely nothing so I could never tell who was a surgeon vs. nurse. It was a smaller hospital though so everyone knew everyone.
 
Not across hospitals, but within hospitals. There is no "key" per se. Just try not to wear one institution's scrubs in another hospital.
 
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