What’s that stain on your scrubs?!

This quarter is slowly coming to an end (finally!), and I am getting super excited for ICU and community health next quarter. But heading back into the clinical setting means donning those dreaded white scrubs again – something I am NOT looking forward to.

Among the many reasons I have for not liking my white uniform, one of the biggest reasons is that white and I don’t get along. I don’t think I have ever been  able to keep white looking just white for long, and my scrubs are no exception to this rule. There have been a great many stains that have come (and gone, thank goodness!) on these scrubs, from sticky yellow vitamin K to unmentionable -uhhm – “waste products,” and the super starchy-ness of them doesn’t help hide the stain in any way, only exaggerates it in the most uncomfortable way. But even those non-nursing related stains can get you some pretty crazy stares.

One hospital I was doing a rotation at had a super yummy cafeteria stocked with my favorite summer lunch – SUSHI! And of course with sushi comes soy sauce and wasabi. So after lunch, we’re getting ready to head back to the floor, and as I am talking to my friend, she looks down at my scrubs with a shocking, “OH NO!” Yes, my little tray of soy sauce and wasabi had spilled all down the front of both the top and bottom of my scrubs, leaving little brown green blobs all over. Needless to say, if you didn’t know what I had eaten for lunch, you would be pretty grossed out by how it looked. It was pretty mortifying. I spent the rest of the day blob-covered and head hanging low.

The stares from staff and patients alike were enough to make me loathe the super whiteness of our scrubs, but the worst was heading to the market afterward to pick up stain remover. Market-goers and non-hospital savvy folk are not used to seeing strange stains over ultra white scrubs. Fortunately I was able to get the blobs out [tip: OxiClean Instant Stain Remover did the trick in this case], but I guarantee there are more stains to come. I guess I will just have to wait to see what new stains next quarter will bring.

Nurses: What are some of your crazy stained scrub stories?

Take the Scrubs laundry poll!

We have a hunch…and want to prove it. All the nurses we know are saddled with what appears to be tons more laundry than civilians. Is this the case with you?

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The average household does around 8 loads of laundry each week.* Do you think nurses do more? Share your comments below!

*Source: Journal of Consumer Studies & Home Economics, July 2007

[main image: Stockbyte | Thinkstock]