Why do nurses clean off their shoes at work?

[BSNbeauty]

I work with a nurse that wipes off her shoes with cavi wipes at the beginning and end of shift. Ive seen other nurses do this as well at other facilities I have worked at. I just do not understand it. You are cleaning your shoes only to walk on the same dirty floor again? Then you clean your shoes after work to walk on the street with the same shoes you just cleaned??? If you are that paranoid about germs then how about wearing shoe covers at work or changing your shoes before getting in your car. Idk. This whole concept just seems ludacris to me.

[PacoUSA, BSN, RN]

Someone asked this before and I must ask as well as it has been unanswered: What is a cavi wipe? Perhaps we call them something else in my neck of the woods.

[PacoUSA, BSN, RN]

OK, just Googled it. Seems like we use something else, we call them "purple wipes" as they are in a purple topped container.

[wooh, BSN, RN]

Why do nurses wash their hands at work? They're just going to get dirty again...

[gonzo1, ASN, RN]

Germs are all about load. We can never kill all of them, but keeping the numbers down decrease the risk of infection. One staph germ won't hurt you, but millions can. So wipe and clean often and you lower your chances of getting or giving something icky.

That's why some of us wipe fairly often.

[Pink Magnolia, BSN, RN]

I guess they do not want to trail germs from one patients room/unit to another room/unit. I don't know...just guessing:)

[elijahvegas, ASN, RN, EMT-P]

i didnt really do it that often/compulsively but often i would wipe my shoes at the beginning and at the end of the shift. Why ? Simple. At the beginning of the shift i wanted to look clean/professional. We had to wear white shoes so theyd get scuffed/grimy all on their own even without stepping in some nasty. The only time id pay any mind to them throughout shift is if i did end up stepping in some nasty, otherwise i wouldn't pay very much mind. At the end of the shift id wipe em down because i didnt even want the germy junk in my car. Not to mention walking around outside was a surefire way to get my shoes looking dingy, as i rarely went straight home after work

my 2 cents

[brownbook]

I have never cleaned, wiped, changed work shoes for home shoes, etc., in 30 + years of nursing. I don't know???? Maybe it is like saying for example (I do NOT do this) I never wear a seat belt and haven't been hurt in a car accident....it only takes one. But I am never sick, my family and friends are never sick (outside of once in a while colds.)

The dirtiest places are usually where our hands touch a lot. Phones, keyboards, light switches, faucets, car keys, steering wheels, money, remote controls, the flush on the toilet., etc. I can't even imagine if, when, or how, a virus would last long on a floor or on a shoe? Sponges and cloth hand towels are probably germier than our shoes!

I am not saying I am rights, just saying what I do. I would love a scientific, or Myth Buster, study on this. Did you see Myth Buster's episode on toilets and bathrooms, hilarious, but also very scientific.

[MadpeysRN]

I think if we all did things right we'd all take our shoes off at the doors of our homes and put on "carpet slippers". That way nobody would track anything into the house, not just healthcare workers![/quote']

Our shoes come off at the porch, all shoes.

if you don't want to take your shoes off you can stay outside..

And one thing I think is gross is putting shoes in the locker, unless that's this only thing you put in there!!

And why we're at it, sitting bags/purses on the floor at your locker or nursing station. I'm sorry but that's just gross. It just makes me cringe..

Btw, no I don't clean my shoes, unless they are sticky..

And to all you out here that do this, stop putting your dirty gross shoes up on chairs while you're charting! Seriously I have to sit there sooner or later and I don't want to sit in what you just walked through!

K rant over..

[nursefrances, BSN, RN]

If you catch me cleaning off my shoes it's because I stepped in something heinous or it's making a stick stick sticking noise when I walk. I'm not particularly concerned about what lives on the bottom of any of my shoes. It's a buggy world. I do take my work shoes off in the garage, though.

Ahh..there's nothing like that shlock....shlock.. noise that one hears while walking down the hall when you have the gooey stuff from an ekg lead on the bottom of your Danskos. I could think of worse stuff that could be stuck to the bottom of my shoes but this will suffice.

I had friends who would wipe off their shoes when leaving our unit, then walk to the break room, then walk to the garage in the same shoes. It never made sense to me either but to each his own.

I used to change shoes in my car or leave my shoes in the garage. I wouldn't wear my work shoes in my house. EVER.

Now I work in an eye surgery center (it's a very clean environment) and we wear those blue surgical shoe covers during work. It's great.

[Adele_Michal7, ASN, RN]

Why do nurses wash their hands at work? They're just going to get dirty again...

Lol. Dead.

[Adele_Michal7, ASN, RN]

OK just Googled it. Seems like we use something else, we call them "purple wipes" as they are in a purple topped container.[/quote']

Now I have to go google.

[Adele_Michal7, ASN, RN]

I should probably be doing this. Or putting shoe covers on. I take BART. (If you're not from Bay Area google BART cleanliness) It would probably behoove me to wear them