Anonymous wrote:WTF. Some people are crippled with anxiety. This would not even register on my radar.
Get a hobby and some meds people. If this is what keeps you up at night you really need to stay in your bunker.
Anonymous wrote:This strikes me as an anxiety issue.
Meanwhile, people wear jeans 5+ times before washing, and you don't think that's gross? You don't know where anyone has been. I am not a medical professional, but I don't see scrubs as any more "gross" than what anyone else is wearing.
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.
Yes, DH who is an ER doc does this. He has scrubs from home and then changes into hospital scrubs. I’ve told him not to shop afterwards because of people like the OP who will make assumptions.
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.
Anonymous wrote:From CDC:
"though OSHA regulations prohibit home laundering of items that are considered personal protective apparel or equipment (e.g., laboratory coats),967 experts disagree about whether this regulation extends to uniforms and scrub suits that are not contaminated with blood or other potentially infectious material. Health-care facility policies on this matter vary and may be inconsistent with recommendations of professional organizations.1253, 1254 Uniforms without blood or body substance contamination presumably do not differ appreciably from street clothes in the degree and microbial nature of soilage."
Also:
"Apart from this study, which documents the presence of pathogenic bacteria on health-care facility clothing, reports of infections attributed to either the contact with such apparel or with home laundering have been rare."
https://www.cdc.gov/infectioncontrol/guidelines/environmental/background/laundry.html
Anonymous wrote: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.