How to Choose Scrubs for Different Medical Roles

Choosing the right healthcare scrubs improves hygiene, boosts comfort, and gives a more professional appearance. You’ll need to think about functional features and design elements, which types are best for your specific role, the best scrub brands, and how to care for them long-term.

Having spent many long shifts myself on wards and clinics, I personally know the benefits of wearing a well-fitting, comfortable, professional scrub top and pants. Finding the right fit for you may take time, but it’s important to find a look and feel that keeps you flexible, mobile, and clearly identifiable!

In this guide, I’ll take you through why making the right choice matters when searching for the best nursing scrubs, features to look for, care tips, and why different roles require different looks and fits.

Why Choosing the Right Scrubs Matters 

Well-designed and manufactured scrubs are easy to clean and stain-resistant, offer practical functionalities such as pockets and clips, and remain comfortable for you to move around in during long working shifts. What’s more, the right scrubs ensure you are easy to identify and always look professional while working.

Choosing any set of scrubs at random, or purely choosing the cheapest options, means risking discomfort, poor longevity, a lack of useful features, and easy staining. In different medical roles and situations, too, it’s vital to choose scrubs that can clearly identify your department and that give you the flexibility and functionality you need.

For example, the scrubs I’ve worn over the years on wards will be slightly different from those worn by veterinarians!

It’s also important to keep your patients’ needs and expectations in mind, too. In fact, studies show that healthcare uniforms are extremely important when it comes to professionalism expectations:

“Based on (BMJ) findings, (researchers) call for more hospitals, health systems and practice groups to look at their dress standards for physicians, or create them if they don’t already have one. Just over half of the 4,062 patients surveyed in the clinics and hospitals of ten major medical centers said that what physicians wear is important to them – and more than one-third said that what a doctor wears influences their satisfaction with their care.”

Institute for Healthcare Policy & Innovation, quoting the BMJ

Functional Features and Design Elements for Choosing Scrubs

Instead of choosing the first scrubs you find, prioritise comparing elements such as fabric types, fit and mobility, durability, functional design, colour coding, and sustainability.

Let’s break these must-haves down into a little more detail:

• Fabric Types and Comfort: Consider how flexible you’ll need to be at work. Cotton, for example, is super-breathable and very easy to clean, while polyester is more durable and moisture-resistant. Consider blends for the best of both worlds.

• Fit and Mobility: Sizing too low or too high can lead to pinching or flowing outfits that reduce flexibility. Be sure to measure yourself carefully and to consult sizing charts for scrubs that are flattering but practical.

• Durability and Stain Resistance: A fact of the job is that you will come into contact with a variety of fluids, and you need to keep your uniform looking clean, cared-for, and hygienic. Choose outfits and materials that resist staining.

• Functional Design: Consider how many pockets and loops you typically need when on shift! Some healthcare scrubs have multiple in chest and pant areas for ease of access.

• Colour Coding: Depending on your workplace, prioritise scrubs that colour-code to your role and department so other personnel and patients can easily identify you.

• Sustainability: If reducing carbon is a priority for you, choose more sustainable scrub options such as those made from bamboo.

Types of Scrubs by Profession

Scrub styles, manufacturing, colours, and materials can vary depending on the role. For example, there are key differences between nursing scrubs and those designed for dentists, veterinarians, and specialists.

Scrubs for Nurses

The best scrubs for nurses are designed to maximise comfort and movement during busy working shifts. They typically include handy features such as pockets and drawstrings, with the goal of providing as much support as possible as professionals move from one area to another. Nurses should typically prioritise moisture-wicking uniforms, too.

Scrubs for Dental Professionals

Dental scrubs tend to be very lightweight, again, for ease of movement, particularly during sensitive procedures. These scrubs are also typically designed with a focus on hygiene protection and stain resistance, and with chest pockets for ease of storage.

Scrubs for Veterinary Professionals

Given that veterinarians work with animals, they need specialist vet scrubs that are both hygienic and extremely durable, i.e., resistant against tearing and scratching, and easy to deep clean from odourous messes.

Scrubs for Physicians and Specialists

Physicians, specialists, and surgeons usually wear professional-looking scrubs that are both hygienic and offer layers of protection. For the best scrubs for doctors in surgery, in particular, antimicrobial, easy-clean material is a must, where dangerous bacteria and bodily fluids are in regular contact.

Care and Maintenance Tips for Long-Lasting Scrubs

Even the best scrubs need careful washing, stain removal, drying, and storage to ensure that they are clean, hygienic, and free from wrinkles and creasing, always looking professional and comfortable to wear.

Here are a few ideas I’ve used over the years to keep my own scrubs looking and feeling great during long shifts.

Proper Washing and Drying to Preserve Fabric 

Ideally, you should always follow the laundry instructions on your scrubs’ labels before putting them into a washing machine. I personally recommend pre-treating scrubs in cold water with half a cup of white vinegar, ensuring they are inside out, before washing them via machine. 

You’re then usually safe to place scrubs in a tumble dryer for no more than 30 minutes, but air drying, then ironing, helps to keep them looking great and lasting longer.

Stain Removal for Blood, Medications, and Other Spills

For blood stains, I recommend using cold water to avoid staining setting in deeper, and to try to treat them as soon as possible. Avoid using bleaches or chemicals unless your scrubs are lighter coloured.

Other bodily fluids will usually require the same cold soak, followed by heavy-duty washing detergent and following the label. For ointments and medication spills, I recommend hot water, applying detergent, then machine washing. Always avoid rubbing!

Storage to Prevent Wrinkles and Wear

The number one tip to keep scrubs looking great in storage is to hang them, rather than fold them. Consider rolling them up if you have to, but do so around cardboard tubes.

Popular Scrub Brands and Industry-Specific Recommendations

Cherokee and Dickies are the two most popular and reliable manufacturers of healthcare scrubs for nursing, dentistry, and surgical operations. Both have a range of specific lines designed to keep healthcare professionals safe and comfortable.

Brands for Nursing Environments

For nurses, I highly recommend Cherokee Flexibles, specialising in a wide variety of V-neck tops, drawstring pants, and maternity clothing for nurses who need to keep comfortable and flexible on the go. You’ll find multiple choices in this collection offering easy-reach slash pockets, elasticated comfort, and comfy cotton/polyester blending.

Brands for Dental Practices

The Dickies Dynamix range is simple and effective for dental practice wear, offering a variety of professional colours, moisture-wicking, and four-way stretch options. Patch pockets prove highly useful during practice, and these lightweight scrubs are specifically designed to reduce wrinkling, thanks to polyester blends.

Brands for Surgical and Operating Room Settings

For operating rooms, I recommend large, disposable, fluid-resistant scrub tops from MedCon, which remove the need to worry about getting outfits clean and hygienic again for the next day.

Cherokee’s Workwear collection, too, which includes v-neck tops with panels, also offers simple comfort and easy care for high-pressure medical roles.

Where to Source Quality Scrubs

The best places to find high-quality scrubs are online medical uniform retailers, brick-and-mortar shops, and customization and team orders through specific suppliers.

To get the best value on sourcing quality healthcare scrubs (regardless of your role), I suggest prioritising stores that offer customisation and tailoring to your specific needs and shape. You’ll also find that ordering in bulk can cut costs down if you frequently find you need to replace your uniforms.

Above all, register as a customer at a medical uniform retailer online, and you’ll have access to the latest sales and discounts on specific scrubs lines as they become available.

Final Thoughts

Finding the right scrubs for your specific healthcare role is important so you can stay flexible, hygienic, and always look your best. 

It’s easy to assume that one brand or look of scrubs will cover all your needs - this is never the case! Be sure to explore MedShop’s catalogue of looks, styles, and fits to find tops and pants that keep you comfortable and protected for hours at a time.

Sources

Best Scrubs for Doctors. (n.d.). In Medshop Australia. Retrieved February 19, 2026, from https://www.medshop.com.au/blogs/news/best-scrubs-for-doctors

Cherokee Workwear WW645 Scrubs Top Womens V-Neck Black. (n.d.). In Medshop Australia. Retrieved February 19, 2026, from https://www.medshop.com.au/products/cherokee-scrubs-workwear-ww645-ww-top-contemporary-black

Dynamix Scrubs V-Neck Top DK730. (n.d.) In Medshop Australia. Retrieved February 19, 2026, from https://www.medshop.com.au/products/dynamix-scrubs-v-neck-top

Flexibles Scrubs. (n.d.). In Medshop Australia. Retrieved February 19, 2026, from https://www.medshop.com.au/collections/flexibles-scrubs

Nursing Scrubs Australia - Professional Scrubs. (n.d.). In Medshop Australia. Retrieved February 19, 2026, from https://www.medshop.com.au/collections/nursing-scrubs-uniforms

Scrub Tops Fluid Resistant Large Disposable. (n.d.). In Medshop Australia. Retrieved February 19, 2026, from https://www.medshop.com.au/products/scrub-tops-fluid-resistant-large-disposable

Veterinary Scrubs: Perfect Blend of Comfort & Function. (n.d.). In Medshop Australia. Retrieved February 19, 2026, from https://www.medshop.com.au/collections/vet-scrubs

What doctors wear really does matter, study finds. (n.d.). In ihpi.umich.edu. Retrieved February 19, 2026, from https://ihpi.umich.edu/news/what-doctors-wear-really-does-matter-study-finds