Wearing scrubs in public...

Nurses General Nursing

Published

I was reading the paper this morning, and this topic was mentioned in teh "Ask Marilyn" column. The question and answer was this

"A question has been bothering me since I moved to a city that is home to some of the finest hospitals in the world. When I use public transportation, I see people wearing scrub suits to work. Is this acceptable? I had thought employees were supposed to change into scrubs provided at the hospital in order to leave outside germs at the door"-

and her answer

"You're right. I've noticed the same phenomenon in other cities, too. If those people are hospital employees they are endangering patients and should be reported to hospital authorities. Another growing problem is scrubs being stolen and word in other places, such as the subway, to convey an impression of respectability. Anyone seen wearing scrubs outside an appropriate environment should be regarded with caution"

What do you think?

WHen i was a student, so recently, we had to wear our scrubs into the hospital, we were told not to change at the hospital. Here I saw the OB nurses and OR nurses were the only ones who had uniforms provided to them to change into at the hospital.

I have worked in many other states,but, Florida is the only one so far that I have had to purchase my own scrubs to work in...and, I don't even get to choose the color as they tell you what to wear. You launder them yourself, and, heaven forbid you get anything on you and must wear "borrowed scrubs"...So, the OR is not special either..at least not here.

I work ICU and wear hospital greens as per unit preference.

In previous positions, me (and my scrubs) went everywhere - grocery store, Walmart, wherever. I would hazard to guess that I'm cleaner than many people I meet. I try not to wear the body fluid du jour, I wash my hands a million times, use alcohol on my hands, etc. Considering that I have witnessed the public not even washing their hands after using the bathroom, I don't think I'm doing too badly.

Now the bottom of my shoes is a whole other story. :) Some day I want to culture them out of curiousity. :chuckle

I'm sure if nurses passing along deadly or germs that make people sick was a big problem we'd know about it by now.

Okay, I'm going to be the curmudgeon here...

Just like everyone immediately changed how they did things when Semmelweiss figured out how to lower the infection rate in childbed fever, eh?

Our student uniforms have a large vest that we wear over whites. Can't put it on until we get into the clinical setting, must remove right before we leave--can't wear it anywhere else. Uniform is to be washed evey time we wear it (vest and whites).

By the logic some people are using in this thread, we shouldn't wash our hands between patients, before or after eating, etc. It's a bit worrisome; I wonder how much micro some folks remember...

NurseFirst

Okay, I'm going to be the curmudgeon here...

Just like everyone immediately changed how they did things when Semmelweiss figured out how to lower the infection rate in childbed fever, eh?

Our student uniforms have a large vest that we wear over whites. Can't put it on until we get into the clinical setting, must remove right before we leave--can't wear it anywhere else. Uniform is to be washed evey time we wear it (vest and whites).

By the logic some people are using in this thread, we shouldn't wash our hands between patients, before or after eating, etc. It's a bit worrisome; I wonder how much micro some folks remember...

NurseFirst

Good points. :)

steph

By the logic some people are using in this thread, we shouldn't wash our hands between patients, before or after eating, etc. It's a bit worrisome; I wonder how much micro some folks remember...

NurseFirst

That's absolutely false. Handwashing is a proven way to prevent transmission of disease causing pathogens, so no one would advocate not doing that. Putting on your nice vest hasn't been shown to be an effective infection control measure (and again, if it were why would visitors not be required to change into a fresh outfit?). I work NICU and ALL parents have to gown over their clothes as an infection control measure, but you know what? Our ID doc says it's not necessary for most babies that can be held. We do it because we have always done it. That's probably the same reason for your school's vests. You'll find many nursing measures are not evidence based.

Hi!

I have to agree with everyone, I have never seen hospitals supply scrubs...though I am new to the hospital atmosphere. During clinicals and at the hospital I am at now, only OR scrubs provided...I too cringe at the prospect of what color and style would be provided :uhoh3:

Just a funny note....I worked for a Veterinarian who performed intense orthopedic surgery...one day he was doing hip replacement and discovered he did not have they proper pair of plyers that he needed. Well, we all know how bloody these types of surgeries are...my scrubs had plenty blood on the top, some on the pants, and some even on my shoes (fortunately the vets provided scrubs just for these types of surgeries..we wore ours into work and if we helped we could change into some cheapies that they provided, and after surgery we changed out of them and they were washed)...anyway he sheepishly asked me to drop everything and run accross the street to Home Depot...I did without even thinking or changing...I was quickly greeted at the door, asked what I needed, told to stay put, and the man retrieved the plyers and I was back....BEST SERVICE I HAVE EVER GOTTEN AT HOME DEPOT! :rotfl:

Tammy, RN student, PCT on PCCU

I was reading the paper this morning, and this topic was mentioned in teh "Ask Marilyn" column. The question and answer was this

"A question has been bothering me since I moved to a city that is home to some of the finest hospitals in the world. When I use public transportation, I see people wearing scrub suits to work. Is this acceptable? I had thought employees were supposed to change into scrubs provided at the hospital in order to leave outside germs at the door"-and her answer

"You're right. I've noticed the same phenomenon in other cities, too. If those people are hospital employees they are endangering patients and should be reported to hospital authorities. Another growing problem is scrubs being stolen and word in other places, such as the subway, to convey an impression of respectability. Anyone seen wearing scrubs outside an appropriate environment should be regarded with caution"

What do you think?

WHen i was a student, so recently, we had to wear our scrubs into the hospital, we were told not to change at the hospital. Here I saw the OB nurses and OR nurses were the only ones who had uniforms provided to them to change into at the hospital.

Changing into hospital provided scrubs when you get to work does not magically make you germ-free. Unless you autoclave yourself in the pocess.

Our student uniforms have a large vest that we wear over whites. Can't put it on until we get into the clinical setting, must remove right before we leave--can't wear it anywhere else. Uniform is to be washed evey time we wear it (vest and whites).

By the logic some people are using in this thread, we shouldn't wash our hands between patients, before or after eating, etc. It's a bit worrisome; I wonder how much micro some folks remember...

NurseFirst

I don't see how you made that jump with the logic... Handwashing/ alcohol hand gel is the number one way to reduce the spread of infection. Look at the CDC recommendations. I don't think anyone here has alluded not to wash hands, that's not what we are talking about.

My school uniform had a placket in the front, that was designed to be removed when leaving the hospital, washed, and buttoned on when you got to the hospital. However, they stopped actually requiring students to do that back in the "80's" and if anyone was meticulous about infection control, it is the old nuns that ran my nursing program. :uhoh3:

Specializes in PeriOp, ICU, PICU, NICU.
NOTHING will EVER stop that! The bakery lady once stopped me and asked me questions that should have been directed to her GYN doc.

I still love the response from an OB/GYN at a party once. He was there with his wife enjoying the evening and a woman approched him and started asking him medical questions. He suggested she remove her clothes, lay on the table (table with all the food spread out) and he would examine her.

HA! She was mortified. I was laughing so hard I thought I'd bust.

Any bets she'll never do that again?

OMG! :chuckle :rotfl:

Surgical booties/foot protectors are meant to protect staff from getting pts' bodily fluids on their shoes, and then tracking them around- not to protect pts from staff's shoe germs.

Specializes in Utilization Management.

You know who I look at with great caution? The store employees.

I firmly believe that the grocery-store worker who doesn't wash hands properly is spreading more germs than I possibly could.

Ever been to the cash register and have a cashier with a cold handle all of your food items, then give you change?

By the logic some people are using in this thread, we shouldn't wash our hands between patients, before or after eating, etc. It's a bit worrisome; I wonder how much micro some folks remember...

NurseFirst

NurseFirst...

Nobody said that, they didn't even infer it. Actually, the topic hasn't even been discussed in this thread unless I missed it.

I think it's okay to give the nurses here just a *little* more credit than that.

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