Scrubs in public ..........does it bother you?

[npmommie]

I think some of you may feel I am obsesive about these things, but I think it stems from actually working in a hospital and knowing exactly what we encounter every day at work.
my thoughts aren't "well maybe she is the receptionist" when I see someone in scrubs, my thoughts are " sheesh I hope she didn't just have a patient load of mrsa etc today"
because in reality that is what is out there.
my case load right now has at least 10 patients on precautions for mrsa, vre, and cdiff.

 

[OceanAnnie]

I think some of you may feel I am obsesive about these things, but I think it stems from actually working in a hospital and knowing exactly what we encounter every day at work.
my thoughts aren't "well maybe she is the receptionist" when I see someone in scrubs, my thoughts are " sheesh I hope she didn't just have a patient load of mrsa etc today"
because in reality that is what is out there.
my case load right now has at least 10 patients on precautions for mrsa, vre, and cdiff.

I think you have every right to your opinion.

I too have paused seeing people out in scrubs. It makes me wonder. I don't know if "bothered" is the word for me, but they stand out to me. It wasn't that long ago you wouldn't see that sort of thing. I think norms have relaxed quite a bit over time in a lot of areas.

 

[tammymacb]

I think you all have hit your heads! Seriously, and you go to Disney World? There are more germs on the bus bars on Disney transport then there is on the bottom of my shoes..

 

[DawnM]

I don't know if this is a policy where my dad has worked or not, but he is a surgeon and I have never seen him walk out of the hospital in scrubs. He would wear his regular clothing to work and would change back into those clothes before he left to come home.

I will have to ask him. He is retired now, but worked for almost 50 years as a surgeon.

Dawn

My husband is a med student and has done several plastic surgery rotations at different hospitals. In all but one they were not allowed to leave the hospital in their scrubs. It's odd though because in a few the surgeons had this policy, but not other fields. Surgeons scrubs are probably cleaner than most since they are covered during surgery and many don't have as much contact with contagious patients as say internal medicine.

 

[Judy from Boise]

there are "uniform" scrubs and "OR" scrubs. Uniform scrubs are purchased and laundered by the indivigual, OR scubs are owned and laundered by the hospital. They are no frills blue or green with the name of the hospital stamped in black......very different from the colorful print scrubs worn as uniforms.

I never changed shoes or uniforms prior to entering my house, and certainly ran errands on the way home if I needed to. I work in a hospital, walk the halls everyday, and never worry about what my shoes are tracking in...........sanitise your hands prior to eating or touching your nose, mouth or eyes, and you are good to go.

 

[minkydog]

I'm an elementary school nurse and I wear scrubs every day. I"m pretty sure I'm carrying some minor germs around with me just due to my contact with young children. But then, so is every parent out there who's NOT in scrubs. It never occured to me that someone would be afraid or grossed out by my scrubs. But I guess I could see it if I were working in the ER or ICU, where my chances of being in contact with some pretty vicious microbes would be a lot higher.

 

[jiminyC_fan]

I'm not going to read the entire thread but good grief.....life is too short to worry about someone wearing scrubs in public. Germs are everywhere. My dental hygenist wears scrubs. Several different jobs wear them. I don't think there is a high risk.

 

[pls5286]

Kind of a twist on this, but as a medic we ttook our ambulance to wal-mart or the grocery store or to a local restruant to eat. Unless our uniforms got really messy from a bad call, we don't change on shift. We run flu patients, car wrecks, heart attacks, or grandma needs to go to the hospital in the same clothes and boots. We would clean "dirty" uniforms in the station washer, but we were out in public all the time.

On a side note when my kids were crawling I never wore my work boots in the house. I new where they had been. I took them off outside the door and carried them in. On the nights I was working and we ate supper at my house occasionally and this was not possible the floor at least got spot mopped when we left.

 

[ilovejack02]

My Mom is an RN , worked in labor and delivery for years.

She is a FREAK about the germs you can pick up in hospitals.

When I had my DS she bought me slippers for my stay and then threw them away when I was discharged.

When my Father had open heart surgery, she was constantly on guard with his blankets on the bed, if one touched the floor, she had the nurses bring a new one . She is very careful in hospitals, so I tend to be too now.

I was very young when she worked in the hospital so I don't remember much , but once she went to work at Dr. office, I remember her coming home and not even letting us hug her before she showered and changed clothes .

I never thought much about people in scrubs in public, LOL but now thanks to the Dis I will be now .

What really grosses me out though, my DS21 manages a kitchen at an Italian restaurant . LOL I don't let him wear his shoes in my house. The kitchen floors get gross and of course the hose them down everyday , but still ICK, I don't want him walking in my house in those shoes.

 

[MyNameisStitch]

I'm one of the ones not in a Medical Field but I own 3 pairs of scrubs. I bought one pair for a costume and liked them so much that I bought a couple more pairs. They make great PJs and are great for lounging around in the house, plus I have worn them out to the grocery store before when I had to run get something late at night. So don't fret if you see me out and about wearing scrubs, I haven't been around any more germs than anybody else.

That being said, I don't have any qualms about people wearing scrubs in public even if they are in the medical profession. Like someone said before theres probably more germs on the handrails at WDW than on somebodys scrubs.

 

[lsyorke]

I think you all have hit your heads! Seriously, and you go to Disney World? There are more germs on the bus bars on Disney transport then there is on the bottom of my shoes..

Exactly!

 

[ilovejack02]

Exactly!

LOL those gross me out too, I am a hands washing freak in WDW.

 

[badblackpug]

Funny. I'm an ER nurse. I wear my scrubs to the grocery store, Target, WaWa, appointments, wherever I have to go, if I have to go there after a shift. I am required to buy an launder my own uniforms. Germs are everywhere, and everyone is carrying them.

Visited your granny in the nursing home and hugged her? MRSA
Changed your baby's poopy diaper? Rotovirus
Shook hand with your neighbor who didn't wash his hands after using the toilet? C-Diff
Carried out your garbage? salmonella, ecoli
Took change from the checker at the store who sneezed and didn't wash his hands? H1N1

Let's face it, you don't know who is carrying what.

(now I'm sure there are a whole lot of folks in this thread who won't leave the house)

 

[npmommie]

Funny. I'm an ER nurse. I wear my scrubs to the grocery store, Target, WaWa, appointments, wherever I have to go, if I have to go there after a shift. I am required to buy an launder my own uniforms. Germs are everywhere, and everyone is carrying them.

Visited your granny in the nursing home and hugged her? MRSA
Changed your baby's poopy diaper? Rotovirus
Shook hand with your neighbor who didn't wash his hands after using the toilet? C-Diff
Carried out your garbage? salmonella, ecoli
Took change from the checker at the store who sneezed and didn't wash his hands? H1N1

Let's face it, you don't know who is carrying what.

(now I'm sure there are a whole lot of folks in this thread who won't leave the house)

not to change the subject, but I LOVE WAWA!!!
I grew up in PA. we don't have WaWa here in New England.
my dh will tell you he lived on wawa subs when he was stationed in NJ.

 

[*Meagan*]

Funny. I'm an ER nurse. I wear my scrubs to the grocery store, Target, WaWa, appointments, wherever I have to go, if I have to go there after a shift. I am required to buy an launder my own uniforms. Germs are everywhere, and everyone is carrying them.

Visited your granny in the nursing home and hugged her? MRSA
Changed your baby's poopy diaper? Rotovirus
Shook hand with your neighbor who didn't wash his hands after using the toilet? C-Diff
Carried out your garbage? salmonella, ecoli
Took change from the checker at the store who sneezed and didn't wash his hands? H1N1

Let's face it, you don't know who is carrying what.

(now I'm sure there are a whole lot of folks in this thread who won't leave the house)

ahhhh could not have said it better myself!!!!

 

[*Meagan*]

I don't care unless people like the pp that spend her shift in the ER. Sorry but I don't want anything that the ER has to offer, so I really don't care if you had to go shopping. Your shopping isn't important compared to picking up MRSA or something else. YOu know the dangers when you decided to become a nurse, so deal with it by changing clothes when you leave the hospital, especially the ER,

Most nurses I know, that actually wear them to work, won't even come into their own house with scrubs on. I mean really, Drs want their patients out of the hospital ASAP, because as mine old me last year after surg and so did my nurses, you don't want to be here, there are way to many germs in a hospital.

You do know that MRSA, H1N1, C-diff etc are in ICU's too and even on regular patient floors not just the ER.. Ooh! aghhh! GASP! Yikes! you better run for the hills.

Sorry Im not worried about my scrubs. Im focused on my patients and the care I'm giving them!

 

[badblackpug]

not to change the subject, but I LOVE WAWA!!!
I grew up in PA. we don't have WaWa here in New England.
my dh will tell you he lived on wawa subs when he was stationed in NJ.

Hoagies! They are hoagies...NOT "subs!"

BTW...guess what we had for dinner?

 

[Alyssa88]

I work at a hospital, but on the psychiatric units. I can dress in scrubs or business casual, so I do both. I work second shift so I frequently run errands before work, and occasionally after (I even went to a bar in scrubs once because I forgot my change of clothes).

I don't think this topic relates to my unit, but even on the medical floors the nurses and techs do not change at work, from what Ive seen, nor are they expected to, its just not set up to do that. No changing area, not enough time, etc.

If something gross happened at work I would't go out until cleaning and changing, and I would assume most people would do the same, regardless of what they wear to work.. They may not have much patient contact, or like me, it's not a concern with their patients.

 

[ozarkmom]

Big point to remember is that everyone wears scrubs these days, not just nurses. Dental receptionists, medical sales, daycare workers etc... You never know what the person next to you has been exposed to, regardless of what they're wearing.

Exactly. When my daughter was in cosmetology school they were required to wear them. I have friends that work in dental and medical offices that wear them.

 

[disneyofcourse]

I think we need to rename the community board to " Over thinkers, The scared, and the Germaphobe club Board"