MyNursingUniforms is pleased to present this brief article on the history of nursing uniforms and the emergence of the nursing scrub. This particular article focuses on the 19th century onward.
Nurses uniforms have experienced dramatic alterations since their widespread emergence in the 19th century. From starched dresses to comfortable unisex scrubs, the design of nurses uniforms changed based on time period, functionality, and country of origin. Prior to the 1800s, nursing was a casual profession left to the monks, nuns, and women with low morals who set up make-shift hospitals, usually in churches. Nursing did not become a respected profession until the emergence of Military Nursing during the Crimean War.
