Posts Tagged ‘lab coat’
Medical Lab Coats: What Are Your Options?
There was a time when medical lab coats where only available in one style. Now, there are so many different ones, you have almost as many choices in shopping for a lab coat as you do for other clothing. You can choose between variations in color, material, length and style of cut.
Personal preference is obviously one consideration when choosing a lab coat, but you will also want to consider your job. There are two main functions which medical lab coats perform. One is practical, that of protecting your clothing. The other is more figurative. They are a type of uniform for medical professionals that instantly makes the patient listen attentively and give respect to the person wearing it.
So, when you are deciding on the length of your coat, you need to think about how much your clothing needs protecting. If you are working in a lab daily, or handling a lot of specimens or fluids, you will probably want a longer coat. People who work with equipment, on the other hand, may want a shorter one that will not get in the way as easily. A professional who is primarily doing patient consultations can choose any length coat.
Styles vary immensely, and can range from the traditional boxy style to ones that are cut more like suit jackets, and quite stylish. Another design choice is going to be the size and quantity of pockets. Here again, you want to consider your particular job and what you may need to keep in those pockets such as medical instruments and reference guides.
You can find medical lab coats in different materials, usually pure cotton or a blend of cotton and polyester. The cotton type can be more comfortable and breathe a bit better. But the blends will normally stand up to more use, being easier to clean and looking crisper.
You can also choose between a variety of colors. You may be in a profession where you need to wear white. If not, you might want to break up the boredom and try a color lab coat. Colors can also make patients feel more relaxed as compared to white coats which they are accustomed to thinking may mean pain or bad news.
Whatever your particular division in the medical industry, and whatever your particular profession within it, you can find a lab coat that answers your needs. You can even get several different types to have on hand, depending on your mood.
For free tips and information on lab coats color visit Laboratory Coat Blog.
Get Added Comfort In Newly Designed Lab Coats
Many people in healthcare careers wear lab coats. They are a part of your daily attire. Whether you’re meeting and greeting patients or examining them, a traditional coat comes with the trade. Even if you don’t deal with patients but work in the lab, the cafeteria or any related environment, a lab coat will protect your clothes and provides a professional look. Here are tips on finding unique lab coats that may offer more comfort.
People seem to trust doctors and nurses in lab coats. They expect to see them in this attire. It is not only a part of the trade but also builds trust and displays professionalism. More and more people like receptionists and orderlies are wearing them.
If you are currently using lab coats and tend to just replace them with the same old thing, then shop around and you will be surprised that there is a large variety of coats that distinguish themselves from the traditional white.
If you want to see what I’m talking about take a peak using your computer and the internet. You’d be pleasantly surprised at the vast majority of lab coats available. Back in time you were pretty much stuck with one size fits all. One color, white, fits all.
If the idea of getting up-to-date lab coats that are unique, you’re in luck. If you like to dress for success then you’ll love some of the designer designs with unique embroidery. There are also enough colors to have one for every day of the week or distinguish a set of employees from another by using colors based on the job.
Now, you don’t have to settle on one size or small, medium and large. Once you begin looking around and comparing products you’ll notice there are separate sections for men and women. These lab coats are not tailored to gender for a better fit. Although cotton is the most popular, there are a variety of fabrics. Many are wrinkle and stain resistant, are made with high quality, easy to clean and was and have durability.
The last bit of good news regarding variety in lab coats are the availability of long and short sleeves. This gives you versatility to change with the temperature in your environment or change with the seasons if you like which will add even more to your comfort. To begin looking for your newer style lab coat, take a few minutes and shop and compare for affordable looks and prices.
For free tips and information on white lab coats visit Lab Coats Blog.
Colored Lab Coats Can Ease Patients’ Fears
The lab coat is an essential piece of protective clothing for medical professionals. Unfortunately studies have shown that some patients, especially children, associate lab coats with painful procedures. That’s why colored lab coats have become popular in many regions as way to keep medical workers protected while easing patients’ anxiety.
Lab coats are essential in many scientific and medical fields. They protect the workers’ street clothes and sometimes their skin as well from biological or chemical spills. Originally used by doctors to protect their clothes from blood and other bodily fluids, this protective garb is used widely today in many scientific fields. Among those who wear lab coats regularly are doctors, nurses, pharmacists and various other health care professionals; veterinarians and their assistants; technicians in all kinds of laboratories, along with scientists, chemists and electronics technicians, among others.
As one nurse wrote on a bulletin board about why she wears colored lab coats: “It serves me 3 purposes: keeps me warm, has lots of pockets, covers up my butt.”
For instance, in many hospitals only senior medical staff has the privilege of wearing long lab coats, while interns and residents wear shorter, jacket-style consultation coats. Lab technicians, phlebotomists (people who draw and analyze blood samples) and others may wear long coats with elasticized sleeves or sleeves ending in knit cuffs to fit snugly. This keeps the sleeve from dragging through a biological or chemical sample, or catching on a piece of a equipment.
Originally lab coats were made of linen when they were first introduced in the mid-19th century. Today lab coats benefit from the durability and spill resistance of natural fibers combined with synthetics.
The most popular fabric for colored lab coats is a 35/65 cotton-polyester blend fabric. This material is comfortable and lightweight, resists stains and wrinkles and can be treated with flame and chemical retardants. While a basic unisex lab coat can be purchased for as little as $20, colored lab coats that are treated with retardants can cost $100 or more.
Because they’re meant to protect workers, lab coats are made to be taken off quickly if something spills on them. Long coats usually snap or button, while sleeveless lab jackets and tunic-style lab coats may close with zippers.
A basic unisex white lab coat can be purchased for $20 or less, while colored lab coats cost $25 to $35 dollars for both men’s and women’s styles. Long lab coats typically come in light blue, navy, gray or green, with tan and burgundy coats available by special order.
Whatever the style, the successful colored lab coat is one that provides the best protection for its wearer.
For free tips and information on medical lab coats visit Lab Coats Blog.
White Lab Coats Become Symbols Of Service
Although they started out as a form of protection, white lab coats have become a symbol of prestige and distinction for doctors and scientists.
A white coat lab coat developed from a knee-length smock worn by medical workers and laboratory technicians to protect their street clothes.
Today white lab coasts are made from white or light-colored cotton twill or a cotton polyester blend (usually 65 percent polyester, 35 percent cotton). These types of fabrics show dirt and contaminants easily, and they can be washed at high temperatures to kill any germs on them and better assure no cross-contamination.
Once made from linen, white lab coats today are more likely to be made from a cotton polyester blend (usually 65 percent polyester, 35 percent cotton) or cotton twill, in white or a light color. Contaminants such as blood and other bodily fluids are easily seen on white lab coats, so they can be thoroughly washed, and in some cases sterilized, to kill any germs.
By the mid-19th century, many significant scientific advances had been in medical care, such as Louis Pasteur’s development of smallpox vaccine and Joseph Lister’s theories on germs as the cause of disease. Doctors began wearing knee-length white coats as a way to protect themselves from blood and other bodily emissions.
Even with advanced medical techniques, doctors are still treating the human body, one of the dirtiest organisms known on the planet. Blood and other kinds of bodily fluids can be present any time there’s an injury to the body. A white lab coat still serves to protect a medical worker from contamination. That’s why doctors change from their hospital scrubs and lab coats into street clothes before they leave. Medical uniforms are considered contaminated, even if nothing shows, by the germs of dozens of people. They’re thoroughly washed and sterilized before being used again.
A British study several years ago found that patients liked their doctors to wear white lab coats; it gave them a sense of being treated by a professional. However, a more recent American study found that patients preferred it when their doctors wore street clothes. Respondents in the American study said they felt like their physicians were more approachable when not wearing the familiar lab coat.
Recent studies back up the Mayo Clinic’s perspective. For instance, studies have uncovered the incidence of a condition known as “white coat hypertension.” Research found that the blood pressure of patients with hypertension was higher in a doctor’s office or clinic than it was in the patients’ readings at home. The discrepancy was attributed to a dense of stress or powerlessness on the patient’s part. An American study later confirmed that those patients didn’t care what a doctor wore, as long as he or she (the patient) received good care and made a complete recovery.
For free tips and information on medical lab coat visit Lab Coat Blog.

