Socializing after work in your scrubs

Nurses Relations

Published

Yuck! Who does this? So my husband and I are on a long weekend in Taos, NM. Friday night we were at a local bar listening to a band. In walk a group of women in their mid-twenties. They appeared to have just gotten off work, as they were all wearing scrubs. They hung out at the bar for several hours, drinking, shooting pool, dancing, flirting with men. Wearing their scrubs. Yuck! Of course, after having a couple beers, myself, I was tempted to approach them and ask if they knew how gross and unhygienic that was, but I'm not a big person, and these women were all somewhat large and could have broken me like kindling, and luckily I hadn't had so much to drink that I was that foolish (my husband, of course, bet me $5 to say something to them).

All I could think of all night was fomites!

Specializes in CICU.
You have bars open in the morning. THAT is so awesome! We have to sneak our own liquor into the Waffle House. And at the Waffle House, my scrubs are about the cleanest thing in there!

Yes - I didn't realize we were so special! There has to be some reason for people to live here - I guess the availability of alcohol at odd hours is it.

BUT we don't have Waffle House. Which makes me sad. I still miss ordering things chunked and slathered. And that unique grease/smoke/coffee/trucker odor that clings to you after you leave.

0 Votes
Specializes in CDI Supervisor; Formerly NICU.
I certainly don't want that person taking care of my grandma!
Why? What is it about a beer and dancing in their scrubs that in any way changes the care they'd give your loved one?
0 Votes

Well obviously they're floozies if they're drinking beer and dancing. Not to mention they're GIANT FOMITES!!!! They'll take the bar germs into the hospital. Grandma will probably get drunk off the second hand beer on their scrubs.

0 Votes
Specializes in CDI Supervisor; Formerly NICU.
Grandma will probably get drunk off the second hand beer on their scrubs.
If it were my grandma, she'd appreciate the free buzz.
0 Votes
Specializes in Critical Care, ED, Cath lab, CTPAC,Trauma.

Nothing like a steak and cheese omlette with hash browns with Ketchup and a nice cold beer after a REALLY LOOOONNNGG night......:cheers:.

I miss working......:sniff:

0 Votes
Specializes in OB-Gyn/Primary Care/Ambulatory Leadership.
You should have said something. One of them might have been large enough to pull that giant stick out of your rear end.
Wow, nice!
0 Votes
I give men wearing sweats a wide berth. In my experience the probability of them being either deranged or under the influence is quite high. I wouldn't want others to have that perception of me.

Wow, this one surprised me! I have to say, in my experience, guys wearing sweats are oftentimes coming out of the local gyms....go figure.

0 Votes

I have gone out for dinner before work in my clean scrubs. I have also stopped and had breakfast or ran to the grocery store after work. If I had something really gross on me, I wouldn't do this. I doubt I would go dancing or spend a whole evening out in dirty scrubs. I don't really think it's a big deal. The one thing I actually contact objects with, my hands, are always clean!

0 Votes
To each their own, but I sure wouldn't go to a bar in scrubs. I always change in the locker room at the end of the day. The only time I leave the hospital grounds in scrubs is if I'm going to hit a drive-thru and report back for duty.

It just plain looks trashy as heck regardless of how clean they are. I won't leave my house in sweat pants for the same reason.

There's a big difference between saying something looks trashy and that someone who wears it is trash. I give men wearing sweats a wide berth. In my experience the probability of them being either deranged or under the influence is quite high. I wouldn't want others to have that perception of me.

Holy poop! Is this a joke?

Let's make sure I've got this right: Women in sweat pants = "trash". Oops, I mean, they look "trashy". Men in sweat pants = probably "deranged or under the influence".

Please tell me I misunderstood those comments, you guys. I'm begging you all to tell me I just read that wrong. I can't believe someone could be that judgmental of others about what they wear. No, wait, I can believe it. Someone in this situation seems "deranged", but it certainly isn't the guy who goes out in his sweats.

0 Votes
Specializes in Peds/Neo CCT,Flight, ER, Hem/Onc.
Wow, this one surprised me! I have to say, in my experience, guys wearing sweats are oftentimes coming out of the local gyms....go figure.

Then you're lucky. My experience is usually a middle-aged man, with a pot belly sticking out from the bottom of his Harley Davidson tee, grimy sweats absolutely covered with some sort of animal fur and reeking of cigarettes, BO and a serious lack of Tide. Ick!

0 Votes

Here is the deal. Can we all agree that there is no problem wearing CLEAN scrubs in public? I see no worries there.

But can we also agree that it is not a good idea to wear scrubs that have just endured a 12 hours shift out in public? Not to mention the SHOES. The shoes are wayyyyy more dirty than the scrubs.....

Anyway, I think its up to the responsible health care professional to make the decision as to what they wear. As for me? At the end of the day it is none of my business what someone else is wearing. if I dont like it, I dont have to look. if I am afraid I might get coodies I can remain far away from them......

Approaching anyone to "correct" them only invites confrontation and here n Florida with the "stand your ground" law, can result in disaster. The best course of action is MYOB.

0 Votes
Specializes in Critical Care, ED, Cath lab, CTPAC,Trauma.
Lol.

Fomite it up all over town as much as you like. Just make sure those fomites aren't your scrubs!

Am I really hopelessly old-fashioned to think it's unprofessional to be drinking and/or partying in scrubs?

:hug:.......Yea. ;)

0 Votes
+ Add a Comment