How Not To Bring Germs Home...

[sparky605]

I am a student and just had my first day in a real hospital. None of my patients were on special precautions but almost a third of the unit was on contact precautions. I watched so many people in and out of those rooms, I decided the floor of the whole unit was likely crawling with unsavory microbes. I decided that I will not bring my shoes into my house and I will wash my clothes right away. Is that safe enough? Am I being paranoid? What do you all do? I have never been a germaphobe by any stretch but I just got the heebie jeebies a little today and was wondering if there is a "best practice" for keeping my family safe.

[JustcallmeNurse]

I change shoes before driving home and put the works shoes in a bag. That way whatever I stepped in throughout the shift won't get into the car and then transfer around.

[loriangel14, RN]

I don't do anything special. I leave my shoes in my locker but I just wash ny uniforms with the rest of the stuff. There are scary germs outside the hospital that we don't even think about. the handles of grocery carts are apparently covered in stuff.

[TheGooch]

What about the floors of public bathrooms? They're pretty germy too.

[Rose_Queen, BSN, MSN, RN]

Just remember- once all of those people on isolation precautions in the hospital are discharged, they are out there in the community without the isolation. They're touching the handle on your grocery cart, shaking your hand, whatever. If it's in the hospital, chances are, it's in the community as well.

Changing shoes? Ok. Washing clothes every single work day, with a load consisting of a single set of scrubs? That seems a little excessive/wasteful. Why not have a designated area away from other laundry, and wait until there's enough to make sense of running a washer/dryer?

Being in the OR, I am provided with hospital laundered scrubs and a locker in which I keep my shoes. The most I do is wipe the shoes down. I don't even jump in the shower immediately when I get home, unless it's one of those days where I'm on call and getting home at bedtime- I need that shower to get into sleep mode.

[TheCommuter, BSN, RN]

I take no special precautions whatsoever. Guess what? I do not regularly get sick.

Most microbes cannot live very long outside the human body. Not all, but most. Click on the link below to read grntea's insightful artlcle about germ phobia in people who should know better.

https://allnurses.com/general-nursing-discussion/germ-phobia-strikes-825108.html

[Ruas61, BSN, RN]

I always washed my work scrubs separate back then.

[mhy12784]

Im somewhat of a "germaphobe"

I would just get home and throw my uniform into the wash immediately, and often just take a shower (by the end of nursing school I was far less of a germaphobe, and was often just chucking my clothes in a hamper, unless i had a particularly skeevy day)

I think the shoes thing is overkill. If youve ever been in a bathroom (especially a mens bathroom) at a stadium/sports event etc those floors are going to be far more disgusting than most of your experiences in a hospital. Unless a patient ends up excreting fluids of any variety on your shoes its not an issue.

Of course most hospitals have booties available to put over your shoes. I did my capstone in a SICU at a level 1 trauma center so I was exposed to lots of things. My preceptor got us both into the habbit of just putting the booties on everyday.

[Gabby-RN]

I do not do anything special and I rarely get sick, nor do my kids. I have a no shoes indoor policy in my house but my work shoes are lined up in the basement with everyone else's. I change out of my scrubs when I get home but they go in the same basket as my regular clothes.

[Pepper The Cat, BSN, RN]

Meh, you are more likely to get MRSA from the cart in Walmart. Change your shoes, wash your hands. Don't panic.

[RunBabyRN]

I leave my shoes at the door and strip off my scrubs immediately when I get home. I put them in the laundry inside out, but they get washed along with everything else. Never caught anything from the hospital- more from my son's school! LOL

I agree about what people are saying about when these patients are D/Ced and the world- gas pumps are one the worst. I actually carry hand gel in the car and in my purse and I use the gel after pumping gas.

Really, it's not a huge deal, but I would say not to track it through the house.

[Here.I.Stand, BSN, RN]

My work shoes always live on the bookshelf we have in the garage for shoes; they don't come into the house. But my husband is Korean so culturally we don't wear shoes in the house anyway, so that's not really a special precaution. But like PP's have said, if your shoes have ever taken you into a store, into your kids' school or daycare, into the gym, etc. they are likely just as dirty as the ones you've worn to work.

My kids know not to hug me until after I change out of my scrubs though. I would hate for a stray C. diff spore to make its way into their mouth.

Years ago too, I read (either in AJN or the advice column or a nursing mag) that you don't even have to wash your scrubs in hot water. The detergent and the dilutional capability of water of any temp are sufficient to cleanse your scrubs to a non-pathogenic level.