Scrubs in ER

[wamherrn]

Has any department found literature or policies regarding the wearing of hospital provided scrubs in the ER? We were recently mandated to provide our OWN scrubs and wash them at home unless we can find documentation proving this unsafe.

Thanks

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wamherrns

[cmggriff]

I think it was in 1987 or '88 that the CDC mandated that hospitals wash the contaminated

uniforms of hospital workers. So if a nurse or other patient care worker got clothing contaminated with body fluids, the clothing was not to leave the hospital until it had been laundered. Many hospitals began to furnish scrubs to those working in high risk areas because of the CDC recommendations to do so, and because of the expected expense of laundering various uniforms. I even started to keep a pair of work shoes at the hospital. Never took them home.

As far as I know, the CDC and OSHA still re-

quire contaminated clothing to be laundered by the hospital. Gary