showering: before or after work

Nurses General Nursing

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this might be a weird topic but I am curious. when do you all shower when you're working? and if you shower before work, do you shower again when you get off, then again before you go to work?

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I shower before and after...but I am admittedly weird ;)

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Specializes in Pediatric Critical Care.

not weird. I also shower before and after work.

Then again, I shower twice a day on non-work days too, so....

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I always shower pre- and post. especially post. I also change into civilian clothes out of my scrub before leaving work. and I do not bring my hospital shoes into the house. they stay in the car where I put them on before going in and I take them off when I get into the car at the end of the shift (I have loafers I slip into). the thought of healthcare workers going into public settings wearing scrubs they've gone throughout the day in a hospital setting is wrong to me.

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Specializes in ICU, LTACH, Internal Medicine.

Before and right after. And a few times I drop into gym on my way home because I just felt like it - when patient with CRE/MDRSA pneumonia accidentally blew his trache away and it and a piece of tubing went out flying all over, for one example. "Civilian" clothes to change into go without words.

I routinely tell visitors in isolation rooms that they better shower, or at least wash their hands and change clothes as soon as they come home, and in any case before getting near anyone very young, very old, pregnant or chronically sick.

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Specializes in Acute Care, Rehab, Palliative.

Before I get ready to go to work each day. I work 12 hour nights so I just crash when I get home. The process of showering and drying my hair would wake me up too much .

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Specializes in ER.

Americans are obsessed with hygiene. I shower before, then take a blessed break on my days off, when I bathe every other day. This saves my akin from the ravages of over bathing.

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Specializes in Huntingtons, LTC, Ortho, Acute Care.

I work at night and I shower in the morning when I get home. I live an hour away from my job so if I showered before and after I would never get adequate rest. So I wouldn't be able to handle showering twice a day if I sweat that much in my sleep that I should shower before work, then I should probably get my thyroid checked. To each their own, there's no right or wrong just a matter of personal preference

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Personally if I showered twice a day my skin would dry out so bad. I shower before I go to work. I don't shower when I get home, unless I had an extra nasty day. I don't change clothes or shoes before coming home either. I do leave my shoes right inside by the door and I change as soon as I get home. Maybe I'm just a gross person :laugh:. It really is all about personal preference and I started this topic when I saw a nurse I work with change into different shoes before she left. It just got me wondering if this was common. I don't change out of my work shoes but like I said, I leave them right by the door and they're strictly work shoes.

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Specializes in Family Nurse Practitioner.

When I worked on the floor I was a pre & post shift shower person too. The thought of sleeping after a 12 HR shift without showering gives me the heebie jeebies.

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Before ...and occasionally after, depending on what I did during my shift and who I did it with/to.

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Interesting question. I work days and shower after work. It helps me relax and feel clean before bed.

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