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which for this particular hospital is old-school surgical green. I discovered that this color is so traditional, most uniform stores don't stock it
for retail sale — it has to be special-ordered — although you can pick up
any other insanely bright and cheerful pattern under the sun.
• Shoes. OR footwear has evolved. You once had a choice between
white nursing shoes or canvas tennis shoes the same color as surgical
green scrubs (which, believe it or not, were before my time). Then
came clogs, Birkenstocks, running shoes and Crocs, which were more
expensive, but way more comfortable. I'm in favor of anything that
makes long hours standing on concrete floors bearable, and nothing
about white nursing shoes was comfortable. Even their looks were
torturous. I like Crocs, but a lot of places find fault with the holes in
the tops and the fact that they don't have backs. I found another kind
of clogs that do, though, and they're candy-apple red. I keep clicking
my heels, but I'm still here at work.
• Socks. White, all of them white, so I don't have to worry about
matching. And plenty of them, enough to be able to put off doing laundry for a while.
• Lunch carrier. Box or bag? I have a canvas lunch tote. But because I
don't waste a lot of time getting out of Dodge when my shift ends, I
usually forget it in the lounge fridge. So I'm usually carrying my lunch
in a plastic grocery bag, which works just as well. Now, will I get a
break during the day to eat?
• Writing implements. A lot of facilities have switched to paperless
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