No, not those scrubs.
Seeing as I am entering a new pharmacy later this week, one of my first questions was what the dress code is. In case some of you may have not gathered, I take great care in ensuring that I look professional when in a pharmacy. I'm probably the only guy in his early 20s that has roughly two dozen dress shirts and ties of various colors.
Hell I was once told to dress down at my previous employer because I was making their pharmacists look bad. Alas, that is another story...
Wearing simply blue and khaki on a daily basis is maddening. I love colors, especially bold vibrant colors. It's part of the reason why I'm an artist on the side. In a lot of ways it's like being confined to a tiny room when you're claustrophobic, so naturally I was excited at the proposition of finally bursting from that room.
The answer I received was... perplexing to say the least. While the store manager was not entirely certain of the dress code in the pharmacy, she was pretty sure that scrubs were the acquired attire for techs.
Excuse me? Scrubs in a retail pharmacy? What the hell for?
Sure we deal with bodily fluids on a daily... wait, no we don't. Well then there's all of the dangerous particulates and solutions we... er, not really.
So what's the real reason?
Today we deal with the problem that the majority of people do not view pharmacy as a professional service. As organizations like Walmart and Giant Eagle try to redefine pharmacy as merely another segment of a retailer, we struggle to gain back what was once ours.
In addition, the face of pharmacy for 95% of the public is retail pharmacy. No matter how you want to argue it, they truly are completely unaware of the differing pharmacy disciplines that are out there.
Why on Earth, then, would you want a sizable portion of your visible workforce clothed in something like scrubs? Trying to ride the coattails of the assistance, yes that is a poor choice in wording, of other medical professionals is not a viable answer. There is a perfectly legitimate reason for those individuals to wear scrubs for work.
When I did an impromptu survey (Note: Impromptu means asking two dozen or so people in my checkout line) I found that the majority of people couldn't understand why there would be people wearing scrubs in a pharmacy. Two of them actually laughed at the idea and called it ridiculous.
These are the views of the public mind you, not mine. In a very very unscientific survey.
Retail pharmacy is a business and in a business you should dress in appropriate attire. Business casual is probably as lax of a dress code as a pharmacy should have. I learned a long time ago that there is a correlation between how you dress and how a patient reacts to you.
Indirectly it changes how you act. When I told a couple of my pharmacy friends about this, several of them responded that they loved the idea because it would be like wearing PJs at work. That is precisely not the feeling you should be going for in a work environment.
Sure, there will be people who will argue against me on this. They will probably argue that as a medical profession we reserve the right to wear the same clothing as our brethren. And when you're working a medical building, I see no problem with that whatsoever.
It just seems vastly inappropriate to have to wear attire like this in this type of environment. Naturally I will abide by whatever dress code is enforced and count the days until I'm an intern.
And that day cannot come soon enough.
14 comments:
I worked in a pharmacy last week where scrubs was the attire, so it isn't so rare to me. I have a feeling it was simply so the staff didn't have to worry about their appearances. I also wore scrubs when I worked in a medical office, so I don't think it's unprofessional from a health care standpoint. That's simply my opinion. I ended up wearing business attire myself since my only pair of scrubs are ill-fitting, and no one minded that, either. But they are extremely comfortable - and they come in all sorts of colors :)
"I have a feeling it was simply so the staff didn't have to worry about their appearances."
That illustrates my point perfectly. Retail pharmacy is a business, whether we like to admit it or not. You DO have to worry about your appearances. How would you feel if, while at a lawyer's office, the paralegals were allowed to wear tracksuits and such so they could be comfortable?
"I also wore scrubs when I worked in a medical office, so I don't think it's unprofessional from a health care standpoint."
I stated that when in a medical environment, I have no qualms about wearing scrubs. It's in the retail world that I have a problem.
Being a tech, we get to do the lowest jobs that can get sort of messy (who would have thought that restocking vials would be a dusty experience?) So if I'm going to get dirty, I have no problem wearing scrubs.
That being said, wearing something that closely resembles pajamas does not help your individuality when you and your co-workers all look like clones. My scrubs got replaced by blue jackets, as long as we wear appropriate clothing underneath.
Shauna (murgatr)
Pharm. Tech RDC '06
I agree with you -- I had the choice to wear scrubs when I worked hospital and I passed --- I just felt like a total slob in them. Scrubs are more for sanitary/infection control purposes and are meant to be left behind at the place of work. They are certainly convenient but some of them can look pretty ratty.
I am guessing it also has to do with the part where no one follows dess code in the pharmacy. At least not in the ones I worked at in my area. Most guys wore nice long sleeve shirts and ties, on occasion you'll have the short sleeved shirt that is very casual and a tie on guys. Now the girls, is a whole different story. Most of the time the girls dressed inappropriately.
When I first started working I wore dress pants, a nice dress shirt, or at least a collared shirt of some sort. I felt just so overdressed next to the girls. Some wore way too short skirts, leggings, tshirts, or things I would wear to just lounge around in. It bothered me a bit, but no one ever said a word, not even the managers.
Maybe it was to solve that issue?
Carolyn - Its actually the opposite in my experience, its the men who are on the slobby side.
I would surmise you're right on the reasoning behind it, but its still not a good reason. Its akin to giving a whiny child candy just to shut them up rather than dealing with the problem.
The reason is, many techs wear inappropriate (read:skanky) clothing in the work environment. One of my pharmacist managers once told me thats why they began to allow scrubs. I agree, it's not the most professional for a retail setting, but an improvement over having to talk to techs about salient body parts sticking out and being visible. I don't say it's right, but at least it's a creative solution. At the end of the day, that's the REAL reason some places allow it. Kinda like school uniforms, if you think about it.
For a while, Wally had the vision center people wear scrubs. It seemed silly to me. And I agree that some techs do wear inappropriate attire to work. Wally changed that to the blue and khaki "uniform" but you still had the choice of what style the blue and khaki were so it sometimes was still inappropriate. But I just can't see scrubs in a retail environment. Students and interns wore business casual, which seemed to work out for the most part but the store I was in was very heavy on the estrogen in the pharmacy so there was still some questionable attire with the intern we had on a regular basis (plus she had no common sense which scared me on the fact that she would someday be in charge of a pharmacy). I can see wanting to get some kind of cohesion with attire, but scrubs seems a little too much.
I used to work for WAG, and they are going toward the scrubs thing for techs... all techs wear navy blue scrubs. I think that is their way of making everyone look "uniformed". Trust me though when I say it's better than what my techs would wear to work...
Giant Eagle, eh? I must admit that I was a little bit excited when I saw you mention them, considering they're not a national chain. I work for them!
Anywho, scrubs in retail? Never heard. Our techs have to dress in nice shirts and black pants, while pharmacists and inters have to dress professionally.
Good luck on your first year of pharm school!
I have worked retail where techs wear scrubs, techs wear smocks, techs wear lab coats, techs wear company polos. Rphs always wear white jackets. It's what is worn under those jackets that is the problem. Customers can still see unhemmed pants and wrinkled shirts, even under a jacket. Having a "uniform" of scrubs has seemed to work the best at presenting a cohesive look to the public. On a side note, do you think that there is a correlation between how we present ourselves and how the public perceives us? Pharmacy used to be a highly respected profession. It seems to have slipped in the last decade.
I work in an independent retail pharmacy. We (techs) used to wear white coats to work, but so did the cashiers and the pharmacists and interns. Customers would get confused as to who did what, so the owners (pharmacists themselves) chose to have the techs wear scrubs. That then became even more restrictive when we were all forced to wear navy blue, _____ brand scrubs. Yes. The brand is even mandated.
@Pharmgirll - I know that there is at least some correlation. In my earlier years I had problems with patients, and even some co-workers, listening to me because of my youth. I was advised by one of our more senior members to take the dress shirt and tie approach and, lo and behold, it worked.
I have seen studies that confirm this sort of things. Appearance plays a sizable role in how we are viewed by the public, which in turn connects with what we do for them. If you look like a slob, then I can boss you around and do what I like because you barely dress better than I do.
It's sad, but its true.
I think the important factor when considering appearance is that there be some readily identifiable difference so that the public can determines ones role (ie doctor/nurse/receptionist/pharmacist/tech/etc). I see it every day when a pt comes to the counter tells their story to a tech, then the tech then turns around and says, "this lady has a question." Same thing happens in hospitals to. Everyone dresses the same and only displays their first name(with not credentials) on their name tag. I almost took my pants off for a janitor once. It really is a big problem.
However, if a pharmacist is relying on a nice shirt and tie or pantsuit or whatever for respect from his/her patients/techs, well then, that's an even bigger problem. A pharmacist needs to earn the respect of their patients(and technicians) through their performance, not their wardrobe. Believe me, one good consult does way more to earn true respect from a patient than a closet full of the finest clothes. And, btw - f@ck those studies. I've read them, and if you take the time to read the conclusion really closely(and don't just look at the abstract), it clearly states: "the public are a bunch of duche bags."
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