Medical personnel wearing scrubs outside of work

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What are everyone’s thoughts on medical personnel wearing scrubs in public places? Yesterday went to a Chipotle for take out and saw some healthcare workers wearing scrubs in line. Nearest medical facility was a block away and is an urgent care center. I respect healthcare workers and front line workers at this juncture of the most unprecedented pandemic in history BUT I am also concerned that wearing scrubs or PPE outside of the workplace is inappropriate. How do we know that their scrubs do not harbor Covid19 viral particles? They should at least change into street clothes. Just my 2 cents on this topic

Clearly they are going to kill us all

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:People wearing scrubs out and about look lazy and dirty. Sorry.

+10000

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People wearing scrubs out and about look lazy and dirty. Sorry.

+10000

Yes healthcare personnel are totally lazy. Pardon eyeroll. No, healthcare personnel are not going to do something that's not mandated of required of them after a shift.

Wash your hands and you have literally nothing to worry about no matter what you touch.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People wearing scrubs out and about look lazy and dirty. Sorry.

+10000

Yes healthcare personnel are totally lazy. Pardon eyeroll. No, healthcare personnel are not going to do something that's not mandated of required of them after a shift.

Wash your hands and you have literally nothing to worry about no matter what you touch.

I'm sure the above poster feels so much better about the not lazy looking doctor who wears business attire while also performing care, right? At least they don't look lazy!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Well heck, where I work we have public chain restaurants inside the hospital and I promise you no one is changing their scrubs to run to the (national sandwich shop chain) inside the hospital on their thirty minute lunch break.

Wearing of scrubs INSIDE the hospitals is understandable. We're talking about these workers exiting the hospital to PUBLIC spaces. There needs to be some new guidance on restrictions of wearing hospital scrubs or PPE outside of work areas. DO NOT WEAR THEM TO MY NEIGHBORHOOD STORES that we all go to. Who knows where you've been or had contact with?!? Maybe someone with Covid19 walked by you while you were coming out of the hospital...now you have active viral particles on your clothing.
By the way, some PP stated that viral infection does not happen from clothes...well, they also haven't shown it is transmissible on fomite surfaces. Does that mean we don't need to wipe down all door handles and surfaces??

Scrubs are not the same as PPE. I wear PPE over my scrubs when working with Covid19 patients. I am completely covered. I am about as dangerous as the average person on a bus or train.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Well heck, where I work we have public chain restaurants inside the hospital and I promise you no one is changing their scrubs to run to the (national sandwich shop chain) inside the hospital on their thirty minute lunch break.

Wearing of scrubs INSIDE the hospitals is understandable. We're talking about these workers exiting the hospital to PUBLIC spaces. There needs to be some new guidance on restrictions of wearing hospital scrubs or PPE outside of work areas. DO NOT WEAR THEM TO MY NEIGHBORHOOD STORES that we all go to. Who knows where you've been or had contact with?!? Maybe someone with Covid19 walked by you while you were coming out of the hospital...now you have active viral particles on your clothing.
By the way, some PP stated that viral infection does not happen from clothes...well, they also haven't shown it is transmissible on fomite surfaces. Does that mean we don't need to wipe down all door handles and surfaces??

Scrubs are not the same as PPE. I wear PPE over my scrubs when working with Covid19 patients. I am completely covered. I am about as dangerous as the average person on a bus or train.

+10000. You have to assume anyone you are around has the ability to transmit infection and do your part to protect yourself. Wear a mask and wash your hands. I'm much more worried about the regular people who aren't social distancing or wearing masks in close quarters than healthcare workers. Rant about those people.

[Anonymous]

Disgusting whenever I see scrubs outside of hospitals. Are you that lazy and lame not to change out of your work clothes? Gives me the chills thinking about what is going on in hospitals nowadays..Covid19

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Completely inappropriate and disgusting even before COVID.

Agree. Totally unprofessional. This is why they have locker rooms.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Well heck, where I work we have public chain restaurants inside the hospital and I promise you no one is changing their scrubs to run to the (national sandwich shop chain) inside the hospital on their thirty minute lunch break.

Wearing of scrubs INSIDE the hospitals is understandable. We're talking about these workers exiting the hospital to PUBLIC spaces. There needs to be some new guidance on restrictions of wearing hospital scrubs or PPE outside of work areas. DO NOT WEAR THEM TO MY NEIGHBORHOOD STORES that we all go to. Who knows where you've been or had contact with?!? Maybe someone with Covid19 walked by you while you were coming out of the hospital...now you have active viral particles on your clothing.
By the way, some PP stated that viral infection does not happen from clothes...well, they also haven't shown it is transmissible on fomite surfaces. Does that mean we don't need to wipe down all door handles and surfaces??

Scrubs are not the same as PPE. I wear PPE over my scrubs when working with Covid19 patients. I am completely covered. I am about as dangerous as the average person on a bus or train.

So do you go home and throw those scrubs in your kid’s bed? I’m guessing not.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Completely inappropriate and disgusting even before COVID.

Agree. Totally unprofessional. This is why they have locker rooms.

Hmm will you please tell me where my locker room is? I work at a major teaching hospital in dc and the only locker room I know of is in L&D and then assuming OR. 100% of my coworkers in the ICU and PACU come in our scrubs and leave in our scrubs.

[Anonymous]

I wouldn't know that medical personnel are wearing their scrubs outside of work because I've been home for the past 2 months.

[Anonymous]

You know what? I do not have an opinion on this issue and never thought about it.

[Anonymous]

I'm a social worker in a medical facility, on a COVID unit. I wear my regular work clothes to work, not scrubs, and if I go into COVID+ rooms then I wear PPE. If you see me in the grocery store before or after work, you would never know where I work/ what I did all day. So many personnel in medical facilities don't wear scrubs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Completely inappropriate and disgusting even before COVID.

Agree. Totally unprofessional. This is why they have locker rooms.

Hmm will you please tell me where my locker room is? I work at a major teaching hospital in dc and the only locker room I know of is in L&D and then assuming OR. 100% of my coworkers in the ICU and PACU come in our scrubs and leave in our scrubs.

Shows like ER and Grey's Anatomy have given people the misperception that these mythical changing areas exist everywhere in hospitals where staff flirt with each other while attending physicians do CPR.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If they are going in to work, fine. Leaving work, not so much.

This. I'm a nurse. Most of us wear street clothes in and change into scrubs at work. I do know some people who wear personal scrubs into work and then change into hospital provided scrubs there. So I suppose you could be seeing those people.

I'm a nurse too at a facility of about 7000 healthcare workers. Most do not wear street clothes in/out, they were their scrubs. Very few wear street clothes if any. They will wear gowns if caring for a contact precautions patient and people in designated areas such as OR or L&D do wear street clothes in as they get scrubs at the hospital that they are required to change into.

For what it's worth, unless the healthcare worker is rubbing themselves all over you or not washing their hands, this is really a non issue. Germs don't aerosolize off their scrubs.

The entire point of scrubs is to keep outside germs out of the facility, and facility germs from leaving the facility. That is the entire point of scrubs.

No, scrubs are not PPE and there is no regulation that requires people - other than in a few designated areas such as the OR - to change them at the beginning or end of a shift. And while scrubs do carry bacteria, hands are the most likely vector for spreading disease. Most hospitals do not provide staff with a place to change their scrubs. Are you licking someone else's scrubs? Is the person wearing scrubs rubbing themselves all over the place?

That's gross. You are contaminating the hospital by wearing the scrubs while coming in. Stop trying to defend something indefensible.