Wearing scrubs home?

[Lee_Ryan]

Hi, I'm curious about nurses' scrubs in US. Is it true that you need to buy your own scrubs and wash it yourself at home? I saw on tv, some people wear scrubs on their way to/from home and somewhere in between, is it also happening? In Finland where I work, the facilities always provide uniforms for their staff (nurses, doctors, students, therapist, etc). We leave them at work after shift and the hospital laundry will take care of it. We just need to bring our own shoes. I would like to learn about nurses in other countries too! What is it like in your place?

Thanks!

Ryan

[DisneyNurseGal, BSN, RN]

I work in Utah (US) and we provide our own scrubs. In my hospital they are provided for labor/delivery and for the operating rooms.

[Davey Do]

In my hospital they are provided for labor/delivery and for the operating rooms.

Yeah. Back in the 80's, the majority of the floor and unit nurses wore white uniforms and only OR and LD wore scrubs.

I believe the first floor nursing job where I wore scrubs was in the early 90's when I worked ER/Med Surge in a small community hospital. There were some older nurses who still wore the white uniforms.

[NurseCard, ADN]

Yep, we buy our own uniforms and wash them at home.

Probably, operating room nurses are the only ones who do not.

And L/D nurses.

[PeakRN]

Our hospital pays for staffs scrubs who work in non-surgical areas and provides scrubs in house for surgical care areas (OR, L&D, Cath lab, et cetera). We also have extras of those scrubs available in case our scrubs become soiled and we need to change. Scrubs for the non-surgical care areas are washed by staff at home, but since we get to choose what brands and style we want (as long as we have the correct colors) I think the trade off is worth it.

[nursephillyphil, BSN, RN]

some hospitals have uniforms for the nursing staff, they are embroidered with the hospital name, etc. other hospitals have you purchase your own scrubs

[wondern, ASN]

I wonder how much nosocomial infections would be reduced if the hospitals did wash all the scrubs, not just OR and L&D?

That would costs lots of money though.

[meanmaryjean, DNP, RN]

I wonder how much nosocomial infections would be reduced if the hospitals did wash all the scrubs, not just OR and L&D?

That would costs lots of money though.

Meh- those same germs are on visitors and random people at the grocery store.

[KatieMI, BSN, MSN, RN]

The place I worked in provided scrubs. But I honestly would prefer to buy my own made from good-quality materials and with proper fit istead of "fits-almost-everybody" forever wrinkled stuff.

In the USA, many hospitals use "color-coded uniform" (like, all RNs wear royal blue, all therapists dark green, etc) in attempt to help everybody to recognize quickly who is who. With that, collecting and washing colors separately would be too much hassle, I guess.

[wondern, ASN]

Meh- those same germs are on visitors and random people at the grocery store.

True, but random grocery shoppers aren't doing dressing changes on surgical incisions, open wounds, etc. either.

Some people like to don a disposable gown for that anyhow, especially open wounds.

I just had to say that, 'don a gown'. Sounds so , idk...nurse textbooky.

[hawaiicarl, BSN, RN]

Yeah. Back in the 80's, the majority of the floor and unit nurses wore white uniforms and only OR and LD wore scrubs.

I believe the first floor nursing job where I wore scrubs was in the early 90's when I worked ER/Med Surge in a small community hospital. There were some older nurses who still wore the white uniforms.

Just had an awful image of Davey's tighty whiteys showing through his white scrub pants, mind bleach please. I hated the white scrubs too, ah the good old days.

[Crush]

Just had an awful image of Davey's tighty whiteys showing through his white scrub pants, mind bleach please. I hated the white scrubs too, ah the good old days.

Hahahahaha

I remember back when we had to wear all white and accidentally wore undies with a bright color that showed right through . I swear I did not even think about that when I got dressed that morning.