Sorry for that mangling of the TLC song, “No Scrubs.” You’re not the only one to complain, though. Patient complaints at hospitals have caused some administrators to revise their facilities’ dress code.

Through the turn of the 20th century, surgeons were still skeptical of Dr. Joseph Lister’s theories about bacteria causing infections. Many doctors didn’t wear any type of protective clothing while performing surgery. By the 1930s, however, it had become customary to use sterile surgical drapes and gowns in the OR. White was chosen as the universal color for doctors’ surgical apparel, as it suggested cleanliness. Unfortunately, the combination of bright operating room lights and stark white uniforms made eyestrain a problem for physicians and nurses alike. In addition, when students or fellow doctors observed procedures in surgical theaters, the white-on-white glare made it difficult to focus on what was happening on the operating table.

Tests revealed that green was easiest on the eyes, so by the late 1950s, “surgical green” became the color of choice for scrubs. The color was tweaked a bit in the 1970s, when it became routine to videotape surgeries for training purposes; ciel blue (a light green-blue shade) photographed better than traditional green. By the 1990s, many hospitals had stopped providing their staff with scrubs as a cost-saving measure. When doctors, nurses and aides were forced to spend their own money on clothes, designers quickly moved to attract their business by offering scrubs in a myriad of colors and styles.

Hospitals are always looking at the bottom line, though, and that means attracting more patients. Recent studies have shown that most patients feel more secure at a facility where they can identify personnel by their uniforms. As a result, many health facilites now enforce color-coded dress codes, where staffers in different departments wear different colors.

Of course, such a policy also avoids the problem of receiving bad news about a loved one from a doctor wearing a Spongebob Squarepants scrub shirt. And that’s important.