Saturday, June 23, 2012

Scrub that idea!

My son used to think the TV show, Scrubs, was great - he recorded a bunch of episodes on our DVD hard drive. I can't say the show appealed as much to me, however.  I didn't mind the 'postmodern' approach to scripting/directing that went on in the show but I found it unnecessarily crude.

Like many people, I suspect, I'd never heard the word 'scrubs' used in this context - I was more used to the idea of scrubbing in the sense of 'scrubs the clothes' - not that many people do that anymore.  The use of the word scrubs for men and women's hospital uniforms came into common use in the latter part of the last century, according to one commentator, supposedly because you only wore this gear in a 'scrubbed environment.'   Curiously enough, you'd think that these scrubs would only be worn in a hospital to save bringing in outside infections, or taking infections home with you.  That doesn't seem to be the case.  On my last hospital visit, I was surprised to see staff walking in and out of the hospital, as shifts changed, in their scrubs.   There didn't seem to be any concern about the transfer of infections, which is ironic, given how much fuss is made about infection once you, as the patient or visitor, are in the hospital.  

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