Getting the First Pair of Scrubs

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For many people, scrubs are scrubs; who cares when you get them, right? However, for nursing students, wearing their scrubs and lab coats for the first time represents a milestone in their educational journey. Wearing scrubs signifies that these learners are starting to go out into the community and learning how to work in direct patient care in clinical settings. It is their dream, and for many, a long-term dream come true. If getting your scrubs is essential, imagine trying them on for the first time, looking at yourself in the mirror and saying, “Now I  look like a professional nurse.” USF scrubs have evolved from dresses, uncomfortable white dresses some alumni recount, to yellow hats and all-white scrubs. And if change is hard, changing the color of scrubs has to be more complex. 

At USF, we support our students in many ways, and this includes listening to their needs and suggestions, which recently were centered around their scrubs. After many discussions, multiple surveys, check-ins with our partners, and more discussions, we did it! We decided to go from all-white scrubs to green pants and white tops. Easy? Not at all. Perfect? Nothing ever is.  But here we are, and our BSN sophomores and Master’s Entry MSN students look wonderful and very professional in  their new color scrubs.

I'm so grateful for those who donated their time and money to make sure we were able to get our first pair of scrubs, it's genuinely appreciated! I know it provided some financial relief for so many of us nursing students.

As always, we look for support and collaborations to make things happen, including getting scrubs. Thanks to some very generous donors, USF SONHP was able to provide these students with their first pair of scrubs, along with the message that we all believe in them.  They are thankful for this gift. 

We hope you receive this message, and if you see USF nursing students around campus or in your communities, say hello and tell them how professional they look!