showering: before or after work

[peachypurple]

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?

[NotAllWhoWandeRN, ASN, RN]

Here is information on the hygiene hypothesis. Too much of a good thing can sometimes have negative outcomes. The immune system develops properly when it faces challenges. Otherwise, it can turn on us.

What Is the Hygiene Hypothesis?

People don't understand when I talk about good clean dirt and how I wash my hands a lot less (I used to be a bit... overzealous. Still am in certain situations) when I'm outside the hospital now.

My hands can only take so much before they crumble and fall off, anyway. Same with the rest of my skin.

[Horseshoe, BSN, RN]

I don't shower after work because I'm worried about germs. I shower after work because we are running so hard all day that I've usually worked up a sweat at some point. It's about feeling and smelling clean, not being a germaphobe.

[AdobeRN]

When I worked nights I would shower before and after - made me feel fresh for work and I think it helped me sleep better. Working days I would shower in the morning and then it would just depend on what I was working with during the day that would determine if I showered before bed. Whether I showered after work or not - my scrubs were almost always removed and dumped in the dirty clothes pile as I walked in the door - shoes off at the door.

[klriggs53]

ALWAYS immediately after, in the door at home and to the shower. Clean bed and sleep, I should not need one in the morning. Of course there are exceptions fora frisky night. Ha!

[Finestnurse, Lpn]

If i worked at a hospital im sure i would shower more often just bc you come in contact with so many different types of illnesses and patients. I work in ALF were we rarely see things like MRSA or even CDIPH. I generally only shower preferably the night before my shift but sometimes am too tired to so i will in the morning. Otherwise i shower every other day. I find in my mid-30's that my skin is much drier than it used to be and showering everyday is just too drying to my skin. I leave my work shoes at the front door as soon as i get home. Dont put back on until ready to walk out the door. My uniform, yes a horrible required uniform, comes off asap as well. I wont come in contact with anything with a dirty one on. Right into the clothes basket!

Agsin though if a hospital worker i would probably be alot more diligant with containing germs. They also have lockers and such too which i dont.

[Ruby Vee, BSN]

Before work to wake up, after to clean up.

[Kssrn404]

I must contend with frequent perspiration due to living in Texas. However, since I am hypothyroid, showering twice a day would cause my skin to dry out. It would not be good for my monthly water bill, either.

In the morning I lather up the 'hot spots' with a quick PTA wash (pits, tits & @) for some cursory hygiene, then I take a full shower or bath at night.

i have hypothyroid also and I bathe when I come home I work days. My skin would fall off is I showered twice a day.

[Horseshoe, BSN, RN]

If one avoids overly hot water, harsh soaps (one could even simply rinse off sweat with plain water), and makes the shower really brief, some of these problems of dry skin could be avoided altogether or solved with some fragrance free lotion with minimal ingredients.

I won't address hypothyroidism and showers because I don't know anything about how that condition responds to water.

[SmilingBluEyes]

I have had the habit of showering AFTER work since nursing school because I was never sure what was on me when I came home. I shower the afternoon or evening before bed and get up and re-apply deodorant and brush/floss. No complaints in the years I have been doing this; in fact, many patients/coworkers say I smell good. (I use Jergens hand lotion a lot at work).

I wash my thick, curly hair once a week. Between, I just dampen and style it. I don't "think" it smells bad either.

My European grandparents/greats showered/bathed once a week. Never smelled bad. Said we wasted too much water in the USA. I think they were right.

[StNeotser, ASN, RN]

IF I'm doing telephone triage then only before. If I did home visits or worked on the floor then before and after, and yes it's time consuming when doing back to back twelves but I feel grubby showering, going to sleep and then just going to work straight from bed.

[joanna73, BSN, RN]

If you can shower before and after work. Showering after work is very important.

Why?

This would depend on your own comfort level and where you work. Unless it was a humid day, I wash my face after work and that's it. I have a desk job, so showering in the morning is enough for me.

[Spidey's mom, ADN, BSN, RN]

I've always worked in a nursing job where I would simply have to shower after work. ER, L&D, and now hospice and wound care. Lottsa buggy things get on me.

And I simply have to shower to wake up before I go to work. That and drink coffee.

SBE - my grandparents showered once a week as well and they never smelled bad. They would do what they called a "spit bath" which was using a washcloth nightly.