Nurses (& the like) wearing scrubs outside the workplace.

Nine_Lives

Are there any nurses on here with a view on this as i'm curious.

My gf is a dental nurse & at their practice, on H&S grounds, they're not permitted to wear their uniform outside of the practice. I think cross contamination is one term she's used when complaining about these nurses (or maybe i'm confusing that with another story). She says you (or she's been) get lectured when on courses about it.

Anyway, when we've had to go to hospital & you see the nurses sitting on the car park wall in their work gear, smoking their fags & then wandering back into the hospital, this sends the missus off on a right old rant.

Anyone else have views on this? I can see where she's coming from when she puts her argument across, but i wondered where the majority argument lays.

brook2jack

The problem is the cross infection controls in dentistry, in general, far exceed those used in most health care facilities.
I think she is right, we all have seperate shoes and clothes all of which cannot be worn outside of the practice even if "just popping out to the shop".
I bet she goes mad about not wearing gloves and lack of handwashing as well as general cleanliness in hospital. We would never pass a dental practice inspection if we had the cleaning standards of the local hospital.

pollypenny

OH and I use a supermarket near a hospital in Tampa, Florida. It's usual to see staff in scrubs - I'm with you on the hygiene bit , though. can't be wise.

[Deleted User]

Do you also insist that doctors, who wear their 'normal' clothes, also change before they go home?

Does your missus have to work 12.5 hour shifts, with only a 30 minute break; like the hospital nurses? They might not fancy getting there early and leaving late just to get changed.

wellused

Yes I find it baffling too how medical staff including those who work in care homes seem to wear their work wear in public and I have also seen them smoking. Also I have seen staff who prepare food outside in their overalls, I saw one chap at the rear of an Indian restaurant which was having some building work done wearing his kitchen (whites) while sweeping up rubble.

Nine_Lives

jack - i wasn't aware that the ruling is stricter in dentistry than in hospitals. I would've thought there'd be little or no difference though. If anything i would've expected hospitals to be slightly stricter.

ringo - i can appreciate nurses work long hours. I also don't think they get paid enough for their job. My main bug bear is that waiters/waitresses, you're expected to tip them for a good service. What do nurses get for their great service?
BUT, the length of a shift is not an excuse. If there's measures or rulings in place, then they're in place for a reason. Don't like it? Don't do the job. If we start talking about infection then it's hardly a "small" matter is it.

As for smoking outside in their clobber .... this one winds me up actually. I'm a non smoker. If they want to puff away on their cancer sticks then that's their business, but as a patient, i don't want to be having a nurse work around/over me with stale smoke on their clothes stinking the place out. I can't stand it & it genuinely makes me feel sick when i smell it. Stale smoke turns my stomach more than actual smoke tbh.

brook2jack

ringo_24601 wrote: »

Do you also insist that doctors, who wear their 'normal' clothes, also change before they go home?

Does your missus have to work 12.5 hour shifts, with only a 30 minute break; like the hospital nurses? They might not fancy getting there early and leaving late just to get changed.

Everyone dentists , nurses etc who are involved in clinical care has to change. In recent years we all wear uniforms which are boil washed to conform with regulations.

Our footwear cannot have holes in them and have to be wipeable.

Before you ask we work 10 to 11 hour days with half an hour lunch break. At all our cross infection training lack of time is no excuse.

brook2jack

At our dental practice patients are amazed at the level of cleaning, sterilisation, disinfection etc that goes on in-between each patient. If you are bored ask your local dentist how much they have spent to comply with new cross infection protocols (htm 01 05). Even my local gp was asking why all our equipment was covered in plastic, hadn't we unwrapped it? He was told the coverings are replaced after each and every patient.

None of our staff or dentists have been allowed to smoke in or around the practice since the mid eighties.

Nine_Lives

Aye, the missus has been a dental nurse for coming up 10 yr now. She's worked both private & NHS, Scotland (originally) and England. The dentist she first worked in was private & the chap who ran it was a former inspector, so everything was super strict (such as the total wiping down of chairs, under chairs etc - every nook & cranny) which she didn't 'have' to do in England, but did anyway out of habit & the fact she works thorough (shame she doesn't apply this at home with tidying ). She tells me a few stories which mirror what you say jack. She's thorough & likes a job done right, so when she seems someone not following guidelines, she goes off on one.
The other end of the scale will be those who just don't care. Turn up, get paid, go home & aren't bothered about anything in between. I don't particularly like my job, but you need to care enough to make it easy (and right) for you & those you work with.

DomRavioli

maxillofacial units/dentistry units have a higher level of cleanliness due to the risk of severe complications. General nursing staff don't have the same level of risk on a day to day basis, most nurses are overworked, paid a pittance, and do not have time to arrive early due to childcare, transport and financial issues. OP, I can only describe that at bordering on OCD, regardless of the uniforms a nurse wears, or whether they travel in them, bacterium would still come from the skin. It is not feasable, practical or achieveable for a nurse to go through a skin deep clean, change in uniform and still be able to do 13 hour shifts, and also do this when going for a break, or if they need to go to a different ward.

The majority of bacterial infections in hospital are caused either by the bacterium being on the patient already, or it being brought in usually from friends and family. A tiny percentage across the whole NHS is caused by a health care professional.

Perhaps if certain healthcare professionals (HCAs, nurses etc) were paid a living wage they would be able to afford to do these things. Where I live, the average nurse earns 18k per annum for a 66 hour working week, and could get more money in an office job, so leave nurses alone!

fluffnutter

If it's about hygiene, then surely it won't matter if they're wearing scrubs or normal attire? If you go outside, then come back, then I guess there's a risk of contamination whatever you're wearing.

TBH, humans aren't very sterile at the best of times. Scrubs or normal clothes, inside or out, we're all pretty grubby.