HOUSTON – Athletic clothing giant Nike is releasing a shoe designed specifically for medical personnel in December.
The Nike Air Zoom Pulse has a laceless upper with a protective cover for easy cleaning, an elastic strap that keeps the heel securely contained, and allows for flexible and easy one-handed entry, and a full-rubber outsole with a “water-dispersive traction pattern.”
Nike says it conducted product testing with medical workers. A news release noted, “Nurses, for example, walk approximately four to five miles and sit for less than an hour during the course of a 12-hour shift. The work is physically and mentally demanding. The design for the Air Zoom Pulse tackles those challenges with simplicity in mind. The shoe is easy to get on and off, and equally simple to clean. The fit, cushioning and traction systems work together to secure the foot in all hospital conditions.”
The design confronts a range of medical-worker-specific challenges, according to Nike.
“How can a shoe be both comfortable for long stretches of standing and versatile enough to support the hurried movements required in emergency situations? The answer comes through the Pulse's full-rubber outsole, a flexible drop-in midsole with Zoom Air heel unit and a heel fit so secure, it feels like a soft, snug hug,” according to the news release. “One can think of the Air Zoom Pulse as almost a traditional clog made athletic — all the arch and posture support of that industry favorite is augmented in the Pulse, with a smooth capacity for natural motion. And, of course, the shoe is also fabricated for the unforeseen peculiarities of life in the hospital. The coated toe box protects against any type of spill. Smooth surfaces present a unique challenge when designing for spills as well, and the shoe's traction pattern solves for this by removing closed cells.”
Six versions of the shoe will release on December 7 on Nike.com. Other versions will also be released in December. The prices of the shoes have not been released.