Just Curious: RE uniforms that medical people wear

12 years ago

Just read a scary article about a study done on the uniforms that the medical people wear. It was found that 29% bacteria on the items wore 2 days in a row, but dropped to 8% on those changed every day. It was also found that those who changed before leaving the medical area, such as to go to lunch, shopping or home had a higher percent of germs than those whose changed before leaving.

To those here do you change before you leave the area? wear your uniform once or more?

I am NOT being critical--just wonder what the feeling was.

Thanks

Marie

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Comments (7)

ravencajun Zone 8b TX
12 years ago
When we were doing surgery we would change out of our clothes into fresh clean scrubs there in the surgery suite, then change out of them when done with that surgery. You could not enter the surgery with out scrubbing up fully and putting on sterile attire, the hat, masks, gloves, booties, coats etc. All changed after each surgery so no cross contamination.

My daily scrubs I had fresh ones every day, my white coats we had a service that picked them up and cleaned them I had several of them so had enough for a new one daily.
I never wore anything more than once.

In a doctors office setting it may be different but in the hospital and surgery areas in general you would always were fresh clean scrubs.
lazypup
12 years ago
I once worked as a refrigeration technician in a large hospital and we wore uniforms on the job.

We reported to work in civilian clothes and had to done a uniform before entering the shop.

Whenever we had to make a service call we had to done a long blue lab coat and immediately upon returning to the shop we had to remove the coat and put it in the laundry and if we happened to spill something or get dirt on our uniforms we had to change out immediately.

At the end of the day we had to shower and put all our work clothes in the laundry then we dressed out in our civvies to go home.

They had a large garment rack in the shop with a minimum of 4 sets of uniforms and 6 lab coats at all times. There was a laborer from the laundry that came to the shop 3 or four times a day to get our laundry or return clean uniforms and coats.

In some areas of the hospital they had small table top refrigerators at the nurses station where they would temporarily hold suspected contagious cultures until they could be transported to the lab. In some instances once the culture was put in the little refrigerator it was locked and the entire refrigerator was carried to the lab. If the lab determined it was in fact a contagious culture, they would seal the entire refrigerator in a plastic bag and send it down to the refrigeration shop where we performed an extensive decontamination proceedure, and once we completed that we had to immediately shower and put on a clean uniform. Oh yes, and the uniform and lab coat we took off had to go in a special bag that went to a decontamination procedure at the laundry.
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sleeperblues
12 years ago
I work in an OR. We change from street clothes to hospital laundered scrubs before we go into the OR. We don't change clothes between cases, but the people who are scrubbed in sterilely for the surgery always have new surgical garments on at the start of each procedure. At our hospital they are all made of a very thick paper-like material, not sure what it's called.

I don't usually leave the OR area until after we are done with surgery, but if I have to leave to go attend to another matter I will wear a long coat over my scrubs. No one ever re-wears scrubs day to day.
chloecat
12 years ago
Ah! Now I see THIS post and it makes sense!
jannie
12 years ago
All I know is the dialysis personnel at my hospital have very strict rules. They are constantly changing lab coats and gloves. Can't touch 2 patients in a row with same gloves on. If they go out in the hall, they have to change coats. I have never in 4 years gotten any kind of infection. They are good at their jobs and obeying the rules.
samkaren
12 years ago
I thought this was about a dress code. Personally I can't tell the difference between a nurse and a cleaning person at some hospitals.

SamKaren
your resident DJ
lazypup
12 years ago
SamKaren,,,the cleaning lady is the one with the white or grey lab coat over a uniform....the nurses are the ones with all those silly flower shirts that look like hawaian tourists.

Just Curious: RE uniforms that medical people wear

Comments (7)

ravencajun Zone 8b TX

lazypup

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