Wearing Scrubs Outside of the Workplace

[NewGradRN114]

I just wanted to post a question to see what others think of wearing scrubs outside of their place of work. I live in a small town about 30 minutes away from the hospital I work at and sometimes after work I try and get some errands done in the city before driving home. I do this so I don't have to make another trip to the city on my days off. I have a locker at work but it's just big enough to fit a purse so I can't even bring anything to change into after my shift. I would love to hear any opinions people have on this topic!

[Here.I.Stand, BSN, RN]

Yep, prudently.. I know that the community is running rampant with those bugs.

Prudently, I am not going to risk adding the massive amount of organisms collected on my HOSPITAL scrubs to the mix. Hospital acquired and community acquired diseases are two different things.

BTDT, I have a ton of respect for you and generally agree with what you say. Just putting that disclaimer out there.

Again I'm speaking for myself and where I work, but the vast majority of my MRSA+ patients are diagnosed as colonized through a routine surveillance swab (we swab everyone on admission).... which means if I pick it up from them at work, it was community acquired first.

Actually I wouldn't be at all surprised if I was colonized already, based on the number of patients I've had close contact with whose swab came back positive the next day. So as a prudent nurse who cares about public health and infection prevention, should I put myself on 24/7 contact isolation so I don't spread MRSA from my nasty nares and street clothes?

Or back to the hospital, if our scrubs are so dangerous, why can we wear them room to room without every patient being in protective contact iso? (Neutropenic/burn patients aside, of course.)

I will add that if I have reason to suspect a specific contamination I am more careful. Back when I worked LTACH there would be days when I had 4 patients on contact isolation for...3 different pathogens I think was my record: MRSA, C. diff, and ESBL. Times like that I would forbid my kids from touching me before putting my scrubs directly into the wash, and before I gave my hands and face a good scrub. Days like that I also wouldn't go out to eat or to the store before going home.

But in my current setting, on a typical day I honestly don't get how my scrubs get any dirtier than my street clothes (especially after a day of running errands.) I'll also add that if I get a patient's body fluids on my scrubs, I get a set of clean scrubs from the burn unit. I definitely do NOT want to carry blood or sputum or stool into other patients' rooms...let alone my own skin.

[sandysam]

Where do you people work that you have "visibly soiled" scrubs on? This has nothing to do with going out after work in scrubs, but why are you STILL WORKING with soiled scrubs on?! The hospital should supply you with some OR scrubs to make it through your shift, that is disgusting. Also, whoever wrote about TB and HIV on scrubs....where did you go to school? Are you aware that TB is AIRBORNE?! It doesn't live on scrubs! If your patient even has ACTIVE TB, you only have to wear a mask, not even a yellow isolation gown. So unless you have contracted TB and then coughed in everyone's face at the grocery store...then you should be OK to wear your scrubs after work. And HIV..really? Dried blood on my scrubs (which , see above..shouldn't happen) would not magically go into a random persons bloodstream at the grocery. Where do you all work that you have soiled TB, HIV infested scrubs that you are rubbing all over the fruits in the grocery store? Not one person has ever asked me for medical advice in my scrubs or said anything. I think because...surprise, surprise...no one cares.

[frankielynnlpn]

I have exactly the same situation....wearing scubs after work does not bother me.....unless I'm working in a highly infectious area or with a highly infectious pt....then I just go straight home, change, show and go to bed.

[Froggybelly]

No one can guarantee which of my patients are carrying communicable diseases. I work in a specialty where I wear hospital-issued scrubs that are laundered in house, but even if I didn't, I would be extremely hesitant to wear dirty scrubs in my car, let alone out in public.

[AllOfMyWat]

I don't care about exposing others to my prison nurse cooties. My husband runs a business and cares for our infant child; if he needs milk and bread in the morning, I'll grab it after work. Now, going for dinner or drinks? Nope.

[mtjoanna]

(Nobody has ever stopped me in the store to ask me to look at their skin problem, does that really happen to you all?)

I have had a few instances of people asking me about stuff--the greenish chunky discharge from her ear, what this color of poo might mean. My advice generally consists of "that sounds like an excellent question for your provider."

[AlmostANurse321]

Here's the reality, and it has nothing to do with infection control.

You work 3 or 4 12 hour shifts in a week. You have maybe six hours to sleep. You need to buy some groceries you're not going to go home, shower, and change, then get the groceries. You're going to the grocery store that's between work and your house and wearing your scrubs. If hospitals had locker rooms for nurses, maybe you'd change. But walking to the locker room, changing into clean clothes, making the inevitable small talk, and going to your car would add another 30 minutes to the time it takes you to leave.

[Buyer beware, BSN]

I used to think it was OK but now I think it's gross.

All those fomites flying off you in the produce section makes my stomach queasy.

And they're antibiotic resistant too.

And the "butt" thing. The list is endless....

[heinz57]

Here's the reality, and it has nothing to do with infection control.

You work 3 or 4 12 hour shifts in a week. You have maybe six hours to sleep. You need to buy some groceries you're not going to go home, shower, and change, then get the groceries. You're going to the grocery store that's between work and your house and wearing your scrubs. If hospitals had locker rooms for nurses, maybe you'd change. But walking to the locker room, changing into clean clothes, making the inevitable small talk, and going to your car would add another 30 minutes to the time it takes you to leave.

You work 3 days or nights a week and you can't plan for those days? What about the people who work 4 - 10 hours days or 6 - 8 hour days every week? How about the transport or EMS teams who work 24 or 48 hour shifts?

3 - 12s give you 4 days to do shopping and plan for your meals during work.

My work schedule is made up for 6 weeks at a time. OT is my own doing. I plan my meals accordingly for my family and myself. I have practiced this since I was a kid packing meals for my lunch at school with a single working parent and as a full time college student who also worked full time. I didn't have time or money to run to the store everyday. I also didn't wear my work clothes to school. Fortunately that prepared me well since nursing and most jobs in health care are all about time management.

[AlTennRN]

I always wear a t-shirt underneath my scrub top so I just take off the scrub top and wear that in the store.

[Ruby Vee, BSN]

You work 3 days or nights a week and you can't plan for those days? What about the people who work 4 - 10 hours days or 6 - 8 hour days every week? How about the transport or EMS teams who work 24 or 48 hour shifts?

3 - 12s give you 4 days to do shopping and plan for your meals during work.

My work schedule is made up for 6 weeks at a time. OT is my own doing. I plan my meals accordingly for my family and myself. I have practiced this since I was a kid packing meals for my lunch at school with a single working parent and as a full time college student who also worked full time. I didn't have time or money to run to the store everyday. I also didn't wear my work clothes to school. Fortunately that prepared me well since nursing and most jobs in health care are all about time management.

Your work schedule and family life are different from the previous poster's. You can't go all self-righteous on someone whose circumstances you really don't know.

I work 3-4 12s a week. I live on a boat. Our "refrigerator" is a standard sized cooler -- the same one you'd use for a weekend camping trip or a sailing adventure. It doesn't have as much storage space as your refrigerator. If we're out of milk or yogurt or ice, I'm going to stop on my way home from work and pick it up. I can do all the planning in the world on my day off, but if our milk is low on Tuesday, there's no way for me to add an extra bottle because I'm working the next three days and i know I'll need it on Thursday. I know nurses who live in an RV -- similar issues.

Someone else may have their three or four days off a week tied up with driving three hours to stay with their mother who has Alzheimer's because it's their turn in the sibling rotation. Have you ever tried shopping with Mom who has Alzheimer's? It makes an entertaining story years later, but is not something I'd ever take on again on purpose.

[Slhengy]

I wear a long sleeve shirt under my scrub top and I just remove the scrub top and wear my shirt if I have an errand to run.