Wearing Scrubs Outside of the Workplace

heinz57 · Oct 11, 2016

Yeah I stop to do stuff on the way home all the time. Unless they were visibly soiled I never worry about it.

You are mistaken. How many prostitutes carry all kinds of disease do you think go to Wal-mart? Or IV drug users for that matter? I think my clean scrubs where I may have titrated a couple of drips that day are much, much cleaner.
What about people who pick their nose then get a cart?? But you are worried about scrubs that don't touch it??

This is why stores now have cleaning canisters at the doors. Wipe the cart down a little especially where your hands will be touching.

The big difference is as health care professionals we are educated to know about pathogens. Just because everyone else is dirty and touching stuff does not mean we have to add to it. We know what we are messing with all day.

Your scrubs also don't have to be visibly dirty to be "dirty". Many of us are around fecal matter and other body substances all day. This could include the nice little lady who touched your scrubs during a transfer and may not have been diagnosed officially with C-diff. Again, your scrubs do not have to be visibly soiled to be dirty.

I have not worn my scrubs to work or out of the hospital in almost 40 years. I have two pairs of shoes dedicated to work and we are fortunate enough to have a locker room to keep shoes.

There are also people who love the attention they get when they wear their uniform. Many glow when asked "are you a nurse"? I have known members of the transport teams who wear their uniforms even on their off days when they go out for the attention and the perks of freebies. The more educated the public is, the more gross or silly it becomes.

dream'n, BSN, RN · Oct 11, 2016

I work in psych. I doubt my scrubs are covered in public hazard pathogens. After work, if I need to stop at the store, I stop at the store. Sorry to anyone that gets nauseated at the sight of me in scrubs, but it's really a non-issue to me.

Been there,done that, ASN, RN · Oct 11, 2016

I have to call BS on this. Most of us have a pretty good handle on our patients and their risks.

I am not one for BS. The fact is no matter how well we know our patients or their risks, there are always unknown factors. Apparently, you have never been part of a STAT TB screening , for the entire unit staff...on a discharged patient, now diagnosed with TB.

No matter how well you know YOUR patients, you come in contact with many other patients.

Been there,done that, ASN, RN · Oct 11, 2016

Patients don't just teleport to the hospital from alternate realities. They are also out shopping before and after their hospital visits. I'm not a huge fan of going anywhere after work, but sometimes I know the cat is going to be hungry when I get home and I know I'm out of cat food.
Besides, I like the idea of putting fresh produce in my scrub pockets, carrying it around for a while, and then putting it back on the shelf.

We are not talking about patients and visitors going shopping , we are talking about PROFESSIONALS shopping with contaminated scrubs.

I was working the scenario. The first thing I do is hit the produce aisle. I could see me leaning over the peaches to get the the best ones. My scrubs are going to brush against a boat load of peaches.

Realistic or not, paranoid or not...I do NOT want to risk contamination of anything with funky scrubs.

NuGuyNurse2b · Oct 11, 2016

I work in psych. I doubt my scrubs are covered in public hazard pathogens. After work if I need to stop at the store, I stop at the store. Sorry to anyone that gets nauseated at the sight of me in scrubs, but it's really a non-issue to me.[/quote']
right...because psych patients are sooo much cleaner.

klone, MSN, RN · Oct 11, 2016

Fomites, people!!! :no:

Seriously, I've had to run to the store to pick up a few things for dinner after work. So I'm guilty.

But no, all these years later, I STILL judge those CNAs who went out drinking and dancing at the bar in their scrubs.

BSN16 · Oct 11, 2016

Whenever people try to make me feel bad from swinging by the store to grab milk on my way home, think about all the patients we discharge who have MRSA/VRE etc. Do you think they just stay at home, of course not. They are probably behind you in the check out line

Trauma Columnist · Oct 11, 2016

I had to look up some stuff...I've been a nurse for a long time (25 years) and have always worked (and still do) around pts. My pts have cdif, VRE, MRSA, you name it as they are all immunocompromised. I do run errands after work frequently and yes I wear scrubs. I do not even change my shoes - however we have never worn shoes in our household so they are left outside anyway.

How Gross is Your Shopping Cart? From Fox news: A study of 85 random shopping carts conducted by Dr. Charles P. Gerba found that 50 percent carried E. coli, while 72 percent contained coliform bacteria. "The exceptionally high level of coliform bacteria suggests that fecal material may be involved in cart contamination," the report further stated.In other words, your cart most likely harbors bathroom germs.

According to Donna Duberg, an assistant professor of clinical laboratory science at Saint Louis University, these pathogens find their way into our carriages through a number of avenues. "Certainly children can be a source of the germs," she explains, as toddlers often ride in carts when accompanying their parents, but Duberg doesn't downplay the role of the consumers either. "We may bring in germs with our hands," she adds.

70% of Chicago Shopping Carts Have E Coli from the Chicago Tribune: A microbiology professor who has tested shopping carts in major markets, including Chicago, says they're dirtier than public restrooms, diaper-changing tables, chair armrests and playground equipment, among other things.

FurBabyMom, MSN, RN · Oct 11, 2016

I am not one for BS. The fact is no matter how well we know our patients or their risks, there are always unknown factors. Apparently, you have never been part of a STAT TB screening , for the entire unit staff...on a discharged patient, now diagnosed with TB.
No matter how well you know YOUR patients, you come in contact with many other patients.

They don't even have to make it to discharge. I felt so bad for our STICU nurses one day. Had a patient for a *week* in ICU in a regular room. Patient goes to the OR, and comes back on airborne precautions. Not only was a lesion that was biopsied suspicious for TB, the screening for respiratory TB suggested the patient could be positive for that too. They were not happy when we arrived from the OR... That situation was frustrating for us too - we all had to follow up with employee health over that one (and those visits are always a treat).

heinz57 · Oct 11, 2016

I had to look up some stuff...I've been a nurse for a long time (25 years) and have always worked (and still do) around pts. My pts have cdif, VRE, MRSA, you name it as they are all immunocompromised. I do run errands after work frequently and yes I wear scrubs. I do not even change my shoes - however we have never worn shoes in our household so they are left outside anyway.
How Gross is Your Shopping Cart? From Fox news: A study of 85 random shopping carts conducted by Dr. Charles P. Gerba found that 50 percent carried E. coli, while 72 percent contained coliform bacteria. "The exceptionally high level of coliform bacteria suggests that fecal material may be involved in cart contamination," the report further stated.In other words, your cart most likely harbors bathroom germs.
According to Donna Duberg, an assistant professor of clinical laboratory science at Saint Louis University, these pathogens find their way into our carriages through a number of avenues. "Certainly children can be a source of the germs," she explains, as toddlers often ride in carts when accompanying their parents, but Duberg doesn't downplay the role of the consumers either. "We may bring in germs with our hands," she adds.
70% of Chicago Shopping Carts Have E Coli from the Chicago Tribune: A microbiology professor who has tested shopping carts in major markets, including Chicago, says they're dirtier than public restrooms, diaper-changing tables, chair armrests and playground equipment, among other things.

Does that justify nurses adding more known bugs to the mix? D

id you know some hospitals don't allow kids with chronic illnesses to have contact with each other because of "co-mingling" of bacteria? We also do extensive education for them on how to be mindful of others when they are in public places. Now by your reasoning that is all crap.

Have you ever read the information booklets given to patients with HIV and other immunocompromising diseases on how to be cautious buying fruits and veggies at a supermarket?

How about the days when we had powered gloves? We knew those who put their hands in their pockets, scratched their hind parts and adjusted. It was safe to say that was before they washed their hands.

If you can make the world just a little safer, why not? We know where we work and where our scrubs have been. I have been around long enough to have seen our awareness grow and have seen enough co-workers who got careless in their own hygiene habits and paid dearly for it. It wasn't that long ago when we thought someone who wore gloves to start and IV was a sissy to be laughed at.

GE90 · Oct 11, 2016

i wear them to sleep, very comfy lol

Here.I.Stand, BSN, RN · Oct 11, 2016

Gross...to say the carts at Wal Mart are as dirty as clothes with hospital pathogens on them is catchy and hip, but it is just demonstrably false.
I get a wave of nausea seeing people out in public wearing scrubs.

I work with very little ID. I care for people who have been hit by trucks and have had strokes. I gown up before cleaning up that liquid tubefeed stool.

Scores of people have put their hands on those carts. I do a lot of shopping at WM and Aldi due to the size of my grocery bills (7 people), and I've never seen the employees cleaning the carts. I've occasionally seen carts go into the bathrooms. I've seen looooooooots of children sitting in the basket, who presumably have diapers on and who don't wash their hands after picking their noses.

I'm not trying to be catchy or hip. I truly believe that the carts are dirtier than my scrubs. Besides, sometimes we just need to run errands when it works for us. For me, that could be at 0100 after a shift.