Scrub clothes vending machines

truern · Mar 21, 2005

When I did my OB rotation last year, we got our scrubs out of a vending machine that was accessed with our ID card. There was a scrub "return" that you also accessed with the ID card and somehow it could tell what you were returning (maybe by weight??).

Anyway, if you took scrubs from the vending machine and didn't return them somebody would hunt you down like a rabid dog :roll

My only complain was that the scrubs came in sets by size and since I take a larger top than bottom, I had to take TWO sets. I always felt guilty about wasting the extra top and bottom, but not enough to stumble over the too-big pants :rolleyes:

Marie_LPN, RN, LPN, RN · Mar 21, 2005

Nursing coordinators and supervisors started reprimanding the people that were swiping from out dept. Supposedly, for anyone else wearing the scrubs outside, it's considered property theft (since they are stamped with "Property of" letters).

The vending machine thing sounds like a good idea, except 1) like the prior poster said, not everyone is the same size top and bottom, and 2) if it's anything like our drink machines, they empty fast, without quick replacements.

grimmy, RN · Mar 21, 2005

i am the clinical manager of surgical services in a 26 bed or. we are having extreme difficulty with maintaining scrub clothes for the staff to wear. everywhere you turn in the hospital and outside, someone is wearing scrub clothes. in an effort to stop this abuse, we are considering using security badges for entrance into the locker rooms and also using scrub clothes vending machines. i guess i would like to see for those who work in a facility that uses the vending machines, their opinion. is it easy to use? what are the pros and cons to using this type of system versus stocking multiple pairs on a shelf? how much space does this take up? do you put in a user code to get scrubs? what stops individuals who are not supposed to wear scrubs from getting them out of the machine?

we use scrub vending at our facility. we have two return machines and two clean machines, one for male, and the other female. its very simple. we are allowed a maximum of 6 sets of scrubs and then they must be returned. granted, this has not stopped some folks from wearing things home, washing, and wearing them back in. for us, the purpose of the machine is to prevent theft of scrubs. all four machines fit in a hallway between the male/female locker rooms, and while rush hour can be a little hectic, i tend to get my new scrubs the evening before, and store them in my locker. for the machine code, our ids have magnetic strips, and we swipe them in the machine. there is a sign-out sheet and card for visitors and reps at the or desk. you can program the vending machine to give you nearly any combination of tops and bottoms (i.e. m pant and xl top, etc.) as for keeping folks from wearing scrubs outside the hospital, its hard to do. our worst offenders are the residents.

shodobe · Mar 23, 2005

Since we started to lock up our scrubs it seems the loss has dwindled down considerably. We use to have them out on open shelves but they tended to grow legs and walk away. I know some places do lock their scrubs up and they still seem to walk away but for some reason it is working now. I do agree that stricter rules should be imposed and violators should be punished. I get tired of seeing other department employees such as housekeeping and engineering wearing scrubs! The hospital is only required to provide uniforms for one department, that being the Surgical Services, not everyone else. I have heard of the vending machines being used elsewhere and having the same problems as the other posters said. I only know that our situation has improved ten fold over what it used to be. Mike

granny7 · Mar 26, 2005

we use scrub vending at our facility. we have two return machines and two clean machines, one for male, and the other female. its very simple. we are allowed a maximum of 6 sets of scrubs and then they must be returned. granted, this has not stopped some folks from wearing things home, washing, and wearing them back in. for us, the purpose of the machine is to prevent theft of scrubs. all four machines fit in a hallway between the male/female locker rooms, and while rush hour can be a little hectic, i tend to get my new scrubs the evening before, and store them in my locker. for the machine code, our ids have magnetic strips, and we swipe them in the machine. there is a sign-out sheet and card for visitors and reps at the or desk. you can program the vending machine to give you nearly any combination of tops and bottoms (i.e. m pant and xl top, etc.) as for keeping folks from wearing scrubs outside the hospital, its hard to do. our worst offenders are the residents.

:melody: i work in a hospital that has the scrubavail machine. we only get 2 sets of scrubs before we run out of credit...i really don't have a complaint except when they run out of my size and i have the wear the next size up...i wear a small...

anyway the machine takes 30 seconds to give you the scrubs. not too bad really once you get used to putting the dirty ones back in...lol i have forgotten mine many times when we first got the machine... we have the same deal as you, with the sign out sheets for reps and stuff. and yes people wear them home and bring them back. but there are ways to cheat the machine. plus there are times when the machine doesn't register your deposit and you lose a credit.

granny7:rolleyes:

porsch65 · Mar 27, 2005

HI, we don't use the vending machines, there was talk of it before we moved into our new building but we opted not to use them. In our new building the surgical suite is a locked unit. Only open from 8 to 4. The office is right at the entrance of the dept. and there is always someone at the front door. Rooms such as the ofc, the locker rooms must be accessed by a valid swipe card. Only those with "access" can get into our dept. We rarely see anyone outside our dept wearing our scrubs. Like a previous poster said it's usually the docs and or residents who are seen wearing them outside of the dept. Our PM has pretty good control over the situation. Has not been an issue since we moved to this new building where things are locked away. Before this in our old building the OR was wide open and anyone off the street could walk in. Some of the girls had issues with shoes and clothing and purses going missing. Never an issue now.

oneillk1 · May 29, 2005

Hi, at present we have hospital issued and laundered scrubs, but lack of supply is fast becoming an issue (everyone else in the hospital comes and takes them leaving none for the people that need to wear them). The nurses in wards have hospital issued uniforms (not scrubs) that they launder at home. In an OR environment we really should not be getting gross contamination on our scrubs anyway - should wither be under a sterile gown if scrubbed or wearing a plastic apron or some other non sterile covering if there is risk of contamination. Scrubs should in reality be no more contaminated that the uniforms worn by the rest of the nurses in the hospital

mcmike55 · May 30, 2005

We have sort of a locker system for our scrubs.

We are a small hospital, 6 OR's, usually only running 3 at a time.

We get our scrubs from a linen company from the town about 30 miles away.

Each doc and all OR/PACU staff have their own scubs, marked with their name and locker number. We all have a set number of scrubs, based on full time or part time status. We get to pick the size we want, the female nurses have one or two styles of pants and tops (but not the guys )

Once or twice a year they do an inventory, making sure that everyone has what they are supposed to have.

Our scubs are in individual locked lockers, we have a key only to our own stock.

There is a stock locker for visitors, students, and when the staff run out. The stock key is on a long stick, and is kept at the front desk.

The good points: you have your own scrubs, the size you want, you can change sizes, once a year, I think, for free.

The bad side: often we run out in mid week of our own scrubs, so you are in the stock. This is true if you've had a bad week, and if you're on weekend call, you run the chance of working in your undies!!! :chuckle They replenish on Monday night.

Since we started, you never see the gas station guy wearing our shirts.

BUT the service is rather expensive. They talked about making us buy and launder our own scrubs, but that stalled out for now.

Mike

ntcase · Apr 28, 2006

We used the scrubavail machine in the military at portsmouth and it worked fine. I could not believe that somebody actually produced a machine that would vend scrubs. I found out that portsmouth was losing more than 100K a year in scrubs until we got them. The military is starting to install them in all their hospitals and my buddy in Oklahoma said they just got a bunch of them and if you tell the people that manage laundry the size combination you need then you can have it. I guess they will have a vending machine for everything we use soon. A hemostat dispenser would probably make someone money. :specs:

SFCardiacRN · Apr 29, 2006

We use the PIXIS scrub dispensing system. It works great. Our scrub losses were 100k yearly before this system (mostly due to surgical residents and other departments "borrowing"). It has a camera system for returning scrubs. Each person can have two sets out at a time but must return to get another. Mixed sizes are not a problem. Each person sets their preferences when they "sign up" and the laundry dept. loads whatever is needed. We rent the system which prevented a huge initial outlay of cash.

sunnyjohn · Apr 29, 2006

I worked in a place once that had a vending machine. It was a VA hospital. You could get up to 5 pair before your ran out of credit. If the machine jammed, one of the OR attendants had a key and he could go into the room and get you a pair. He guarded that key like a hawk!

The scrubs were hung up on a hanger, ironed and slid out of the machine. They were some of the best in-house scrubs I ever saw, even better than a few I'd purchased,

My only problem, I had to get two pair of different size each time to get a good fit. I alway got mine the night before, returned the unused top and bottom for credit and hung it in my locker.