Photos of nurses uniforms from the 1880s show the structured white dresses they wore. Since then, uniforms have come a long way to accommodate function and comfort, giving way to loose-fitting scrubs.

Patients preferred white coat over scrubs or white coats over business attire for men and women, when asked to rank all attire types, followed by scrubs alone, business attire and casual attire.

Cafeteria workers keep the black pants, but wear white chef shirts, instead of a scrub top. Child life specialists wear purple. Some employees get to wear “regular clothes,” McVeigh said.