I have long been viscerally opposed to the wearing of scrubs in public.
Whether it’s people who are not health care workers, and therefore have no business wearing scrubs ever, or people who are health care workers and are running errands before or after work, I have long been opposed on the well-known scientific foundations of something called fashion sense. But some studies show that wearing scrubs in public might be frightening for reasons other than what I like to call the Aesthetic Shudder Effect.
In a 2004 study of 40 doctors and medical students in Queens, N.Y., researchers found that about half the clothing worn by medical personnel was a “reservoir for germs,” and that the doctors’ ties carried the bacteria that cause pneumonia and staph infection.
Apparently, many hospitals have rules that require workers to change out of their work clothes before heading out for the day, but according to the New York Times, enforcement of such rules can be “lax.” Well, that’s reassuring.
When I was in high school, I interned at a hospital every Wednesday, and I wore scrubs to work every day, and then wore them home when the day was done. No one ever stopped me. Who knows what kind of illness-causing bacteria I tracked around with me that semester?
The jury is still out on this issue, because there really aren’t enough large studies to tell whether or not wearing scrubs and other hospital attire in public is a significant threat to public health, but I tend to think that allowing workers to leave the hospital wearing what they have been wearing all day isn’t really worth it.
How difficult would it be for them to bring a change of clothes everyday and change before they head out for the day? It may be an inconvenience, but it’s better than possibly exposing strangers and the people you care about to illness.
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