How Many Sets of Scrubs Does a New Nurse Need?
The honest answer depends on your shift pattern and how quickly laundry dries — which in Singapore is slower than most people assume.
The numbers
- Two sets — only workable if you have in-unit laundry and dry quickly. You will be washing after every shift with no margin for error.
- Three sets — the practical minimum for full-time shift work, and enough for most student placements.
- Four sets — comfortable. Covers consecutive long shifts and the set that did not dry.
- Five or more — worth it if you work back-to-back nights or want to rotate colours across departments.
Why Singapore pushes the number up
Air-dried laundry takes longer in high humidity, and a scrub set that is not fully dry is not wearable — partly comfort, mostly the smell. If you do not have a dryer, add a set to whatever number you first thought of.
Performance polyester blends dry substantially faster than cotton-heavy fabrics, which is a practical argument for them beyond shift comfort. See the fabric guide.
A starter list for a first placement
Before buying, confirm your school or ward's colour requirement.
- 3 × scrub tops
- 3 × scrub pants (check the inseam)
- 1 × underscrub long-sleeve layer, for cold theatres and wards — underscrubs
- 1 × pair of closed-toe, slip-resistant shoes — nursing shoes and clogs
- 2–3 × pairs of compression or support socks — socks
Add a stethoscope, a fob watch, bandage scissors and a penlight, and you have a complete first-placement kit. See best stethoscopes for nursing students and nursing accessories.
Buy fewer, better
Three sets of good performance fabric beats five sets of cheap polycotton. You wear this for twelve hours at a time in a hot climate; it is the wrong place to economise.
For fit across Cherokee's lines, see the sizing guide. For the whole picture, the complete scrubs guide.
Browse the range in our scrubs uniforms shoes collection.