Are Color-Coded Scrubs in Your Future?

By Jordie Papa

Image by Uniform Destination

If you’ve noticed a number of medical professionals wearing pink this month, that’s because October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month.  Those who dress in pink do so to show their solidarity with those who are dealing with breast cancer.  Of course, wearing color-coordinated scrubs isn’t at all unusual in the healthcare industry.  For years, doctors have worn while lab coats and a number of hospitals have required their staff to wear color-coded that denote their department.

Breaking the Code

Image courtesy of flickr

Just as actors on Star Trek wore color-coordinated uniforms to designate their department or rank, so too do many medical professionals.   In the original Star Trek TV series, gold was reserved for command rank, which included Captain Kirk and bridge officers like Lieutenant Sulu and Chekov.  Red uniforms were the purview of the engineering staff, which included Scotty and the communications staff which included Uhuru.  Blue uniforms designated the medical and science staff.  As much as Mister Spock and Doctor McCoy had their differences, you’ll notice in the original series, their uniform tunics were always the same shade of baby blue.

How color-coding helps eliminate confusion at a busy hospitals

Many hospitals give their healthcare staff a wide latitude when it comes to choosing the color of their scrubs, while others demand their staff follow a rigid color-coding system.  This demand isn’t made on a whim, it’s imposed to help eliminate confusion as a multitude of caregivers, technicians and support staff go about their business.  That being said, breaking the code when it comes to hospital staff designations isn’t as straight forward as that of Gene Roddenberry’s sci-fi series. That’s due to the fact that in the medical profession, there is no standard color code.   Some hospitals use as many as a half dozen different colors in their coding system.  What works for one hospital may be considered unsuitable in others.  Below are some examples.

·         * Nurses dressed in navy blue

·         * Nursing assistants in hunter’s green

·        *  Therapists in khaki

·         * Service personnel in maroon

Image by Uniform Destination

Although the color scheme may change from institution to institution, the philosophy behind color coordination is the same.  The idea is to keep public confusion down to a minimum to when it comes to addressing staff.  Having a color-coding system means patients and family members can eliminate confusion and embarrassment they sometimes face in large institutions where every staffer on the floor wears scrubs.  Should they have a question or concern regarding a treatment modality or any issue they’d like to discuss with a nurse, they don’t want to wind up mistakenly telling their problem to an orderly or PCA whose uniform is indistinguishable from that of a nurse.   

Color-coding makes choosing a wardrobe a snap

On the other side of the coin, being given a designated color scheme makes it a snap for healthcare professionals to choose their wardrobe.  Instead of having to wade through dozens of color schemes including solids, patterns and contrasting tops and bottoms, hospital employees who are forced to abide by their institution’s color-coding system actually find it less stressful.  It can also prove less costly to acquire a color-coordinated wardrobe. 

Image courtesy of Skechers

While modern medical science hasn’t quite come up with Star Trek technology like tricorders and bio-beds, studies have proven that color-coded uniforms help eliminate confusion for patients, as well as helping busy medical professionals decide what to wear to work at warp speed.

Jordie Papa is owner of Uniform Destination with four locations in North Florida.