How often do you wash your scrubs? :)

[RNinheart]

Hello, lovely nurses!

We have just moved to MI and I found a lovely job at EC observation unit. So I see a big difference between the hospital I worked at and this magnet hospital. Nurses are so much appreciated and protected from verbal or any abuse here. (Sorry for a long introduction)

So, I just wanted to share this with you. ? I had a little break and I missed my job soooo much! ?

I always wanted to ask other nurses how often you wash your scrubs. I usually throw it into laundry after each shift and its condition gets worn off fast.

So, do you, nurses, wash your scrubs after each shift or you think it is not necessary?

Thank you ?

[Oldmahubbard]

I worked 3 evening shifts a week, back in the day.

I would come home, thow the stuff in the sink, rinse it out with a little hot water and soap and then roll up in a towel. It took 60 seconds, and it would be dry by the next day.

Air dry, just like I dry my non uniform clothes now, and they really last.

If you have a long term hospital career in mind, it might make sense to spend all this money. I didn't.

[Luckyyou, BSN, RN]

5 hours ago, ruby_jane said:

And kick off your nursing shoes at the door as well. No telling what's on them...

No shoes in the house of any variety!! I’m no germophobe but this one gets me. ?

[RNinheart]

5 hours ago, ruby_jane said:

And kick off your nursing shoes at the door as well. No telling what's on them...

Yeah, I don't bring my shoes home: I leave them at the hospital and I have special shoes to go to switch to dirty shoes. ?

[MamaCrow86]

I like clothes and variety so I usually have serveral pairs. I wash clothes once a week, scrubs in cluded so the 1-4 pairs I wore that week working. I have a strong pheromone gene so I really can't wear things twice ? without washing in between.

[Mkakids]

2 hours ago, RNinheart said:

Yeah, I don't bring my shoes home: I leave them at the hospital and I have special shoes to go to switch to dirty shoes. ?

There are a few nurses at work who do this... they take off their shoes in the breakroom, and keep them in a box in their locker. They then put on their street shoes and walk through the breakroom, the hallway, the elevator and to the front door in their street shoes (effectively walking over areas that nasty shoes from hundreds of employees walk on daily) picking up the same germs that they think they are leaving behind in their locker.

[Guest805836]

This is so strange to me, in Europe we don't wear our scrubs to or from work, we change in the locker rooms at our units (and there is a shower available there as well). Our scrubs are provided by the hospital and are washed as needed (typically you get 3 pairs of scrubs at most from the distributor and then as you put in the dirty ones to wash, it scans them as returned and replenishes your scrubs 'credit').

And shoes are washed daily in a sort of a dishwasher thing.

[CapeCodMermaid, RN]

I would come in from work through the basement and put my scrubs in the washing machine before I went up to the house. I didn’t want to expose my kids to God knows what.

[Quota, BSN, RN]

I’ve got 6 sets of scrubs that get washed with the rest of my clothes about every two weeks. No real special precautions beyond wear once and wash before wearing again. I have work shoes that I wipe down before leaving the unit but that’s about it.

[ruby_jane, BSN, RN]

3 hours ago, CapeCodMermaid said:

I would come in from work through the basement and put my scrubs in the washing machine before I went up to the house. I didn’t want to expose my kids to God knows what.

YUP. When I worked ICU I would literally strip at the inside of the door and dump the stuff in the washer.

[Horseshoe, BSN, RN]

6 hours ago, jitomim said:

This is so strange to me, in Europe we don't wear our scrubs to or from work, we change in the locker rooms at our units (and there is a shower available there as well). Our scrubs are provided by the hospital and are washed as needed (typically you get 3 pairs of scrubs at most from the distributor and then as you put in the dirty ones to wash, it scans them as returned and replenishes your scrubs 'credit').

And shoes are washed daily in a sort of a dishwasher thing.

Sounds good until you think of this:

15 hours ago, Mkakids said:

There are a few nurses at work who do this... they take off their shoes in the breakroom, and keep them in a box in their locker. They then put on their street shoes and walk through the breakroom, the hallway, the elevator and to the front door in their street shoes (effectively walking over areas that nasty shoes from hundreds of employees walk on daily) picking up the same germs that they think they are leaving behind in their locker.

[Guest805836]

Well since I only walk in the visitor accessible areas in my regular clothes (I don't pass through any inpatient units on my way out), I don't pick up all that much ickies (no poop or projectile vomiting for instance). Of course there are germs all over hospitals, but I use public transport to get there, and I'm pretty sure that is full of germs as well. Also for me, working in the OR, it is just as much about what I bring in to the hospital as what I take away.

However, I just did a quick search on pubmed about bacterial contamination of scrubs, and there seems to be no particular risks associated with wearing scrubs to work and home.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31358414

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29056327

Historically, was this something that was common in hospitals in the US from early on when scrubs became a thing, or was it introduced at a later stage (for instance, as a cost cutting measure, because it is cheaper to not have to launder and deliver all the scrubs) ? Are there any countries other than the US that wear scrubs on their work commute ?

This is largely a cultural thing, I think. It just feels really weird. Like I'm still at work when I'm going home.

[FashionablyL8, CNA, LPN]

I remove my shoes right inside the mudroom door and strip, carry scrubs inside out rolled in a bundle to the laundry and then go immediately to shower.

Lol this made me think of the Nurse Jackie episodes when she hugs her kids, has dinner, and has a little interlude with husband- all while wearing her scrubs. Ewww.