Socializing after work in your scrubs

Nurses Relations

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Yuck! Who does this? So my husband and I are on a long weekend in Taos, NM. Friday night we were at a local bar listening to a band. In walk a group of women in their mid-twenties. They appeared to have just gotten off work, as they were all wearing scrubs. They hung out at the bar for several hours, drinking, shooting pool, dancing, flirting with men. Wearing their scrubs. Yuck! Of course, after having a couple beers, myself, I was tempted to approach them and ask if they knew how gross and unhygienic that was, but I'm not a big person, and these women were all somewhat large and could have broken me like kindling, and luckily I hadn't had so much to drink that I was that foolish (my husband, of course, bet me $5 to say something to them).

All I could think of all night was fomites!

Specializes in geriatrics.

Many people are surprised when I asked in an earlier post, "why don't you just change?" Well clearly, it has everything to do with where you were trained. Every hospital I was at, it was common that the staff had lockers. They were expected to change into and out of scrubs, and in a couple of facilities, if you weren't doing so, it was cause for a write up. I now live in a small town, but I'm speaking of a major city where changing is common procedure. That's the habit I've become accustomed to. In addition, back when I was a student, all of our instructors advised us not to wear scrubs outside. To each his own, but that's where my view arises.

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Specializes in Med Surg.

That's interesting, Joanna. I'm in my first nursing job and the OR is the only place that is provided scrubs. I did clinicals at multiple hospitals and the only places I ever saw that people changed were the OR and L&D. If I'd been trained the way you had, I'd be wary too.

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Specializes in geriatrics.

Yeah, it's not as though I'm a major germaphobe, but once you get into the habit of doing something....or not doing it, it becomes second nature. All the nurses change where I've been, or many of them anyway, if for nothing other than to avoid a write up. We had some good bonding time in the changeroom, too :)

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Specializes in Emergency & Trauma/Adult ICU.

Regardless of where you trained, you can find yourself at some point working in a hospital with no locker rooms in any depts. outside of the OR and L&D, with lockers in all other dept. breakrooms about 18 square inches - separate from restrooms. :rolleyes:

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Specializes in LTC.

WAIT!

If I'm not allowed to go out after work in my scrubs, because I have fomites crawling out my ears, am I allowed to go grab a bite for lunch?

What about the drive-thru? Do you think the drive-thru guy at McDonalds will get miffed if I am in my scrubs in the car?

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Specializes in geriatrics.

Fair enough Altra, but at this point, I haven't. I was merely explaining where my perspective arises. No need for the "rolleyes" really.

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Specializes in Emergency & Trauma/Adult ICU.

No rollseyes at you joanna73 ... just at the genius architect who designed my hospital's breakrooms.

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Specializes in geriatrics.

Oh okay then.....my bad :)

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Specializes in renal, trauma, neurosurgery, ICU.

I used to wear my scrubs to and from work until SARS appeared. I was working in ICU at the time and when the first unusual infections started appearing, all staff were expected to take extraordinary isolation precautions. From the minute we entered the hospital we were given a pair of freshly laundered scrubs and would don gloves, gown, and an N95 mask.

It was a scary time, and because of the unknown we were diligent in our precautions. After what seemed like an eternity we were assured that the infection had been eradicated and there was no longer a need to use extreme isolation precautions. Life sort of went back to normal, the hospital stopped supplying us with scrubs, and I immediately started wearing my own scrubs to and from work again.

I will never forget the night, a few weeks later, that we had a patient come into ICU with 'pneumonia'. We were assured that it was NOT SARS and there was no need to take SARS precautions because the virus had been eradicated. We didn't even have access to N95 masks even if we wanted them.

After night shift, while wearing my scrubs, I ran a few errands, stopped at the grocery store, the gas station, and the pharmacy. When I finally got home there was a message on my answering machine stating that the newly admitted patient did in fact have SARS and that I was in quarantine, and I was to isolate myself from every single living being, including my pets, for 10 days. I was mortified. I had been in contact with so many people and the fear that I could have possibly spread the infection was terrifying to me. Logically I knew that the infection was more than likely only transmitted by droplet but there was that 'what if' in the back of mind.

From that point on I never wore my scrubs outside the hospital again. It just isn't worth the risk. New viruses are showing up all the time, and I would hate to be the vector that spread it through the community.

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I think it is safe to say....with all due respect of course, you just need to mind your own business and let other people live their lives instead of judging them.

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Specializes in Med/surg, Quality & Risk.
I did not say lose your license, but your job. Lots of places now have issue with nurses representing their facility outside of work. It has nothing to do with germs, it has everything to do wih the image. It is being put in more employee handbooks than you can imagine. Right or wrong, it is happening. It is right up there with the facility determining a dress code, (no tattoos showing, what earrings one can wear, no heavy makeup, etc) they have added a clause about wearing of one's uniform outside of the hospital/nursing home. And if you live in a town small enough where someone is going to recognize you as a nurse from the local hospital/nursing home, it just takes a phone call to your manager that you were out "drinking" in uniform at a bar. (subjective information, to be sure).

My uniform is one color pants and any other color of top. Whoever gets fired for that "uniform" in a bar is going to have one beautiful civil rights case in my humble legal opinion. Employers don't own their employees. If they'd like to pay me 24 hours a day and pay for my uniforms, then we can talk about my uniform and where it goes.

"I don't really like to talk about my flair."

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