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

[Julius Seizure]

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.

Those same germs that might be on my home-laundered scrubs will also be on my home-washed skin and hair. I feel like my home laundry soap is probably sufficient for general hospital purposes. It will at least kill the species of germs that are most notorious for leaping from one's scrub top into a patient's abscess.

[Been there,done that, ASN, 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.

What exactly do you mean by.. older nurses? I wore all white.. well into the 90's

[Lucydog14]

I'm in Canada and we buy our own and wear them home. ER and OR nurses wear green hospital scrubs

[VivaLasViejas, ASN, RN]

When I was a working nurse, I wore my scrubs to and from the hospital/nursing home. I'd come home and go down the back stairs to the bottom floor of our house where our laundry room was, and peel off clothes as I went. I tossed everything in the washer and headed straight for the bathroom to take a shower. Shoes were left out in the garage...no way was I tracking all the little germies I brought home across my living room.

[AngelKissed857, BSN, RN]

absolutely not true- the research is horrifying. Cannot imagine wearing scrubs from hospital to anywhere but my ultra-hot washing machine, and shoes are in a plastic bag before I get in my car. MRSA survives 5 months on hard AND soft surfaces, after washing and drying unless bleach is used and the wash cycle is maintained at 110 degrees or higher and dried on high. even scrubs like Figs with Silverdur are only guaranteed for 50 washes.

[Wuzzie]

absolutely not true- the research is horrifying. Cannot imagine wearing scrubs from hospital to anywhere but my ultra-hot washing machine, and shoes are in a plastic bag before I get in my car. MRSA survives 5 months on hard AND soft surfaces, after washing and drying unless bleach is used and the wash cycle is maintained at 110 degrees or higher and dried on high. even scrubs like Figs with Silverdur are only guaranteed for 50 washes.

Hope you do this when you come home from the grocery store and the gym too.

[Been there,done that, ASN, RN]

absolutely not true- the research is horrifying. Cannot imagine wearing scrubs from hospital to anywhere but my ultra-hot washing machine, and shoes are in a plastic bag before I get in my car. MRSA survives 5 months on hard AND soft surfaces, after washing and drying unless bleach is used and the wash cycle is maintained at 110 degrees or higher and dried on high. even scrubs like Figs with Silverdur are only guaranteed for 50 washes.

Don't get me going on the shoes. A hospital floor is a Petri dish. Shoes were left outside.

[Been there,done that, ASN, RN]

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

Most likely.. but not to that concentration. Thanks for reminding me... I scrub my hands every time, I come home from any outing. Paranoia strikes deep.

[djh123]

Wow... I wish we had that type of situation. I bought all of my scrubs I wore at my first job, and in my current one, my facility requires a certain color & type, and they provided an allowance but I had to pay some because I got an upgrade on my scrub pants (to have cargo pockets). And oh yeah, we have to wash 'em...

[Davey Do]

Just had an awful image of Davey's tighty whiteys showing through his white scrub pants

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[Davey Do]

What exactly do you mean by.. older nurses? I wore all white.. well into the 90's

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[kbrn2002, ADN, RN]

Under current ownership we can wear whatever we want. That of course means we buy whatever we want which can get a little expensive. I'll gladly pay it rather than wear the scrubs they are willing to provide. 2 sets a year of scrubs that fit absolutely nobody well and are so stiff they can stand up by themselves. For how expensive good scrubs are I'd rather wash them at home anyway. Industrial laundry equipment and soap are hard on clothes.