MISSOULA — Essential and hardworking, nurses need attire to match.
MTN News spoke with one pioneer who is attempting to make scrubs that are as tough as the people wearing them.
Registered Nurse Oriana Turley says those traits in attire didn’t seem readily available when she started her career, so she decided to make her own.
“When I first became a nurse, I had a really tough time finding scrubs -- in particular that fit my athletic body and were comfortable and that moved with me and essentially were a performance garment for the hospital setting,” Turley explained.
There are a variety of performance-based upgrades for the scrubs including increased pocket space and updated necklines.
“Plunging V necks exposing or chests, we do a lot of invasive procedures we help people through their most intimate moments," Turley said.
"And so if your backside because you are in a deep squat exposing the back of your body or your chest -- if you are leaning -- it is a pretty uncomfortable thing for both you and the person you are assisting,” she added.
The scrubs are also made with conservation in mind. They are made recycled materials and use ethical production practices. All of this mimics another industry that Turley doesn’t mind modeling her company after.
“Essentially we want to be the Patagonia of the workplace. I think the outdoor industry has really led the way in ethics and sustainability as the core of their businesses and their brands,” Turley said. “And that is our aim we want to go big and we want to be the mountain ethical and sustainable brand.
Medicine Mountain Scrubs launched on Tuesday with a crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter. Turley co-founded the company during the stay-home order phase of the pandemic with her sister who lives in Oregon.
