Our OR manager just announced that soon we will no longer have hospital issued OR scrubs. We will buy our own scrubs and wear them into work. Does anyone else do this now? How has it worked out? I have worked in the OR for 11 years and have always worn hospital scrubs at each place I have worked. It just seems strange to me, and sort of gross having to take our blood & betadine splashed scrubs home and wash them.
What ever happened to scrubs are supposed to be washed at a certain temperature? I guess infection control rules are changing?
I have been in surgery for over five years and we launder our hospital provided green scrubs. I was trained at our sister hospital and was taught to wear my street clothes to work and change into the hospital provided scrubs. Imagine my shock when I started at this hospital! They are in the same hospital system, but the hospital won't pay to have our scrubs laundered. Now they do pay to have the surgeons scrubs cleaned. I still change when I get to work, but I am the only one in my department that does so. When I brought this up to my nurse manager and the fact that AORN recommends against washing your own scrubs, I was told she had found several articles to the contrary.
i wore hospital-provided scrubs for almost 20 years, and was stunned when i started my current job 4 years ago & was told we bought and laundered our own. any color, design, etc. (not docs or visitors, of course). money-driven policy, of course. they swore their infection rates did not budge when they instituted this policy.
policy states that any grossly contaminated scrubs can be hospital-laundered and returned to the owner. there is no recourse - just do it. they keep a stock available for us to change into if our own become grossly contaminated. every time we have a new hire, we all watch her go through the stages of shock, then gradual resigned acceptance over this practice.
now, some administrator decided 6 months ago that because patients were confused about who is who in the hospital, we would all switch to scrubs that are color-coded according to job title. no prints at all - the don wanted "a column of color".... the hospital chose a vendor and gave full-time staff $100 allowance for purchases from that vendor only. (i had to add $100 to that to buy 4 sets of scrubs & jackets). you can buy any you want, but only purchases from that vendor will be subsidized.
last month they decided they would no longer supply scrubs to vendors and mandated that all vendors purchase [color=sienna]brown scrubs which they are to change into on arrival to the hospital. staff feels it's about time reps quit receiving freebies so they can come here and make a bundle off our work. (there have been many other recent rule changes regarding vendor behavior, but that's a new thread!)
it's all about money and letting go of "sacred cows", i guess. as far as i know, there have been no real problems with anyone's dirty scrubs at home. linda
Specializes in Vascular,Heart team, Urology,Gen...
Hospitals do loose a lot of money on scrubs I do understand this. However....... OSHA would have a lot to say to your hospital if they actually implement this. AORN's standards of practice site that the water temperature has to be hot enough to kill the bacteria that you are caring on your scrubs, (plus a whole lot of other stuff regarding your families and yourself.)it is listed in their standards book. OSHA would (hopefully) not allow you to take that kind of stuff out of the hospital. there are also standards for the condition of your clothing when you are at work. AORN frowns on wearing scrubs to and from home. You contaminate with normal everyday stuff that you NEVER want to expose your patients to. That is WHY the hospital has to provide your scrubs. How can they provide a safe environment for your patients with all that contamination going on?
I failed to specifically state that we carry the scrubs in from home and change in the locker room, then again before going home. Many docs come & go in them and nobody confronts them about this.
If you really search and carefully read OSHA standards, there is a clause somewhere that states that grossly contaminated scrubs, not those worn in the normal course of surgery, cannot be taken from the facility. I found that section a year or so ago when I thought I might try to refute the practice at our hospital. I gave up my crusade when I found that clause.
AORN still takes the traditional position, but our institution picks and chooses which AORN standards it will follow. (As do many nurses, as we all know.) And truth be told, I imagine not all AORN standards would hold up to true scientific scrutiny. Linda
Specializes in Vascular,Heart team, Urology,Gen...
I failed to specifically state that we carry the scrubs in from home and change in the locker room, then again before going home. Many docs come & go in them and nobody confronts them about this.
If you really search and carefully read OSHA standards, there is a clause somewhere that states that grossly contaminated scrubs, not those worn in the normal course of surgery, cannot be taken from the facility. I found that section a year or so ago when I thought I might try to refute the practice at our hospital. I gave up my crusade when I found that clause.
AORN still takes the traditional position, but our institution picks and chooses which AORN standards it will follow. (As do many nurses, as we all know.) And truth be told, I imagine not all AORN standards would hold up to true scientific scrutiny. Linda
You bring up a very good point......do they define "grossly?" I think it is a very sad state of affairs when our patients (possibly) suffer because money is driving the issue. I just remember a tech I worked with who carried in so many dog hairs from her pets that people would actually move their clothing into a different area to avoid getting covered in dog hair so I guess we just do the best we can and move on. Regarding AORN and standards........you make a point.... but the counter point would be that if you ever got taken to court over anything and there was a standard by AORN you better have really good policies in your institution that support your action. I know that I do live in the real world of nursing like you and sometimes those standards do not fit with where I am practicing but I think it is a great resource and we should always try to do the very best when dealing with patients.:balloons:
you said: the counter point would be that if you ever got taken to court over anything and there was a standard by aorn you better have really good policies in your institution that support your action.
you're abslutely right - aorn standards would be quoted in any court case, so we'd all best be following our institutions' policies, because if we're hauled into court on any matter, those standards & policies would determine how our actions are judged. linda
Just another excuse for a facility to be cheap. Yes, they might lose a few dollars a year to lost or stolen scrubs, but they still have to launder the ENTIRE hospital for patient care. The added cost for scrubs won't be as much as management would like you to think. The idea of taking any scrubs, whether clean, slightly soiled or even grossly soiled home to be washed in your family washer is downright stupid! AORN might only RECOMMEND certain rules and regulations but think about it, they must have some clinical reason behind this. Again I say this is just another attempt by a hospital to shuck their responsibilities to their employees. They could care less what diseases you take home to your family.
2007 AORN Standards, RP and G has a section addressing this. I have not worked in an OR that has gone to this drastic "money saving" measure however there are nurses who wear special OR "dresses" to meet the needs of their religion and the hospital does not furnish them. I really wonder if it would be a cost saving measure if protocol was not followed and home processed scrubs were the source of an infection. I would hate to think of the cost of signing that check! Yikes.
:uhoh3:I would hate to think of what I would be bringing into my home if I were to do my scrubs from the OR in my washer. I am often surprised that nurses in other depts. who do wear their own scrubs don't bring them, wear street clothes and change at the end of shift. I know it sounds like a hassle but wow, wouldn't want to look at that soiled scrub under a microscope. That rule "change if any VISABLE soiling." just doesn't work for me.
pinkandgreenRN
6 Posts
I have been in surgery for over five years and we launder our hospital provided green scrubs. I was trained at our sister hospital and was taught to wear my street clothes to work and change into the hospital provided scrubs. Imagine my shock when I started at this hospital! They are in the same hospital system, but the hospital won't pay to have our scrubs laundered. Now they do pay to have the surgeons scrubs cleaned. I still change when I get to work, but I am the only one in my department that does so. When I brought this up to my nurse manager and the fact that AORN recommends against washing your own scrubs, I was told she had found several articles to the contrary.