Banning Crocs?

[styRN]

I am an RN in one of the largest LTC facilities in Ontario (320 beds) and I am also the infection control officer.

I have been wearing Crocs, the Professional model and the Relief model, both without top-vents, for some time now, as have many of my colleagues.

Recently, my employer announced it is undertaking a study into the infection control/health & safety aspects of Crocs in the workplace in the hopes of having them banned due to their risks of infection/transmission/injury to workers.

Does anyone have any experience with a similar undertaking at your workplace?

Are there any peer-reviewed studies on Crocs in the workplace?

My belief is that, not only are they beneficial to the health of the worker (comfort), but the inherent anti-microbial properties of the material and the ease of disinfecting the footwear far outweigh any perceived risks of infection, transmission of disease or risk of injury.

Thanks

[queenjean]

I stopped wearing my crocs to work after I had a lovenox needle go through them. It was one that you were supposed to depress the plunger firmly, and then the needle retracts. Except the needle didn't retract. So I'm looking at the syringe, I jiggle the barrel, and the needle pops out and nosedives into the top of my crocs (the solid ones, not the style with holes). That little needle went straight through them, luckily it went in between my toes instead of into one.

Now I wear my leather London-style birks.

[RuralNP4KIDS]

Well, I regularly have to disinfect my shoes and I still won't wear them inside my own home.

We have one doc who wears Crocs and we all dread him in L&D. He makes such a bloody mess and walks out in those shoes and leaves footprints of blood all the way down the hall. Of course he would do that with whatever kind of shoes he wore.

Shoes are probably one of the most dirty parts of what we wear everyday.

Although I don't see the difference between Crocs and running shoes.

steph

Steph-

At least the doc wears shoes!!! We have one older doc who frequently does deliveries in the middle of the night barefoot!! Or just as bad an old pair of shoes rumored to be from his med school days! Disgusting!!! Does anyone from IC address him? NO and they all know it occurs.

Kathy

[queenjean]

Once, when I came home from a good day at work--no discernible blood, stool, urine, or vomit on me anywhere--my young dog went NUTS for my shoes. Could not keep her away from them. It was like she was a coke addict and I had walked through a bag before coming in the door.

Considering she also acts this way about very dead animals, other dogs' old stool, and cow patties, I decided to never ever wear my shoes home. I wipe them down with disinfectant wipe every day, and put them back in my locker.