ArkiStan

One thing that has always disturbed me significantly is how medical practitioners walk around in public in their scrubs. I don't understand how this culture continues to exist in a profession where "containment" is such a critical requirement. Of course, a complete segragation of the wards and public will never be achieved, but the moment the very practitioners walk out of the institution in the same garbs they practice, I feel the containment is completely compromised. Who knows what contagions they're draped in as we share that table in the deli during lunch. But more importantly, who knows what they're bringing back into the hospital as their baggy slacks scour the dung/rodent-infested streets and subways of NYC.

Am I being paranoid?

bachviet

Yes because hospitals have more bacteria/virus than anywhere else.

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ArkiStan

So you're saying you're troubled by this like I am?

BTW, I'm sure some people may consider it a status symbol, like the guys driving around with a stethascopes hanging from their rearview mirror. But it's not just these guys. It's a much more wide-spread culture among the medical profession, transcending age/sex.

eSDee

Now that you mention it I have seen a lot of them "out of containment" where I work. I think you have a valid point.

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Maarchk

Stupid doctors thinking their soo cool. Lock them in their hospitals until they change...
My guess is some are in a hurry, some don't care, and some just want to be cool looking doctors...
It is a little scary. maybe you should say something.. hey, dont have hiv on that outfit do you?

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zippyjuan

I have a neighbor who is one of those who wears his to impress. He is just a respiration therapist (which is a pretty low position). If someone askes him what he does, he says he works in a hospital and often people assume he is a doctor. He does not correct them. He is image conscious enough that he does not even go by his real last name but gives his middle name instead. So yeah, some people wear them as a status thing. Some just find them comfortable and probably some are just to tired or maybe lazy to change when they leave.

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brainsmile

I wear them for roleplaying LOL

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oblongmelon

When I was still working and scrubs were the norm in the Neonatal ICU, we had to wear regular clothes in to work-change into our scrubs, put our hair covers on, do an arm scrub and then go to work..the only units we were allowed on without coverup garments (lab coats and foot covers) were the Maternity/Birthing Rooms...if we went to the cafeteria for dinner, we had to completely change our outfits on our return. The ENTIRE outfit. If we had to go to another floor for a piece of equipment the coverups were fine..but the cafeteria...dirrrrrrrrrrrty..all those people from outside coughing, spewing germs etc..yuk. We couldn't leave the hospital till we changed out of our scrubs btw.

uncledaddy

I always thought it was just a way of showing off. Like..."hey I work in the medical field". But hey...I just laugh and let them be. I don't know why but when I see that it's like they're still in underwear or something.

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avlena

Give them a bit of respect - it could be that they're just too damn tired to change. I have a friend that's a nurse - she hates scrubs (it's not like they're the height of fashion), but after spending 12 hours running around trying to cover all her patients with little or no breaks, changing out of her scrubs when heading home just isn't a priority. And if she looks funny when she stops at the grocery store for dinner, oh well.

btw... the only people I see wearing scrubs are usually nurses & therapists and such. My doctors usually wear regular clothes and a lab coat. Probably different for surgeons, but I guess I wouldn't automatically assume a person in scrubs is a doctor, but rather a nurse or similar.

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Napoleon54

How do you know they don't change to fresh scrubs before reentering a critical area?

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renovation

my wifes a nurse and wears them just to and from work . they use to give them to the employees. now she has to buy them and there not really costly. and some years back it was very kool to wear scrub around to be in style. now stethascopes can get very costly for a good unit. she has to take hers home with her . she has had them walk away at work .and they dont have legs on them . the type she uses cost $150 and for them to come up missing sucks .
anyway she only wears her scrubs to and from work unless she stops someplace on the way home.

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ufcrusher

Most hospitals require their workers to wear scrubs in the normal course of business. For example, USCD Thorton hospital - the staff (nurses and doctors) all wear scrubs in the normal routine. When and if they need to be sterile, they change scrubs and then scrub themselves down. Most doctors will also wear drapes when they are in a situation where they could be exposed to contaminants.

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cruelpupet

How do you know they work in or near a hospital?

I sleep in scrubs....why? BECAUSE THEY ARE SUPER COMFY.

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ArkiStan

I couldn't care less if they're wearing them to pick up hotties off the street. Hey, whatever works for you. I'm more concerned about the cleanliness both to the public and to their patients. I think houdini is a doctor right? Maybe he or somebody give me a scientific/logical reason why this is considered acceptable? (germs can't live long outside their host, they have to change again anyway, etc)

Burzhui

i don't think it's a big deal

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renovation

on a softer side i think ArkiStan need a job in a clean room j/k
i understand were he is coming from .years ago the wife would change from street cloths to scrub at work .now there is no place to change except the restrooms.

The Happy Squirrel

hehe funny me too wearing them right now

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TofuNinja

I used to wear scrubs everyday when i was the Office Manager for a vet. I never went into surgery or did anything serious, but I was required to wear scrubs as my uniform. All front desk people had to. I see this at other vets. I have seen this at Clinics where the people who check you in wear them. Also people who have NOTHING what so ever to do with the hardcore medical stuff wear them. Office staff wear them. Perhaps you should ask these scrub wearers what it is that they do that requires them to wear scrubs before you work yourself up over health risks and what not. All I am saying it that I would normally wear my scrub bottoms because Banfield tops were they ghey, not because I wanted to score or look cool, it was what I had to wear everyday and we didn't have lockers and I didn't get bloody or pet goo on me on a daily basis. Got all scrub wearers go into surgery.

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Burzhui

i wear scrubs all the time, wearing them right now, will probably wear them when i get to work. any kind of situation that requires absolute cleanliness i.e. surgery, either requires a change in clothing or an over scrub anyway. In all other situations, you won't pick up anything from a scrub wearing doctor that you can't pick up on the street while going to the hospital

ArkiStan

How about from the standpoint of the patient. You obviously know the conditions of NYC. Would you feel okay if you were a patient visiting a hospital for a rectal exam or a large open wound and you knew your nurse got to work in her scrubs on the F line all the way from the outskirts of brooklyn or had to walk through the LES/East Village to get to work?

Nanoo Nanoo

Not everyone who wears scrubs is exposed to anything. I wear it for the comfort when I'm on call at nights.

Houdini

Most non-surgeon, non-anesthesiologist types I know mainly wear scrubs on overnight call out of convenience. It can be a real pain to change, and as long as you wash your scrubs or swap them, the danger of carrying around any bugs isn't much higher than wearing clothes.

Hell, one of the top vectors for bugs is neckties. How often do people wash their neckties?

Still, I mainly see med students wear scrubs, usually because "they're so comfortable!" In coffee shops, libraries, etc. Even bars. I've even seen some tools running down the street (St. Charles Ave) exercising in SCRUBS - just showing off implications that they are doctors. Annoying as hell.

Nija

I think I've worn my scrubs out of the house once. To get my car off the street before getting a ticket.

My aunt works at a store that sells scrubs and various other health care provider-related things, so I got them for my birthday one year. They are comfortable, but they aren't "OMGComfortable" like most people say. Besides 1 pocket = teh suck.

Boxers > Scrubs

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gwilks98

BTW, i don't know about stethoscopes being a status symbol when hanging them in the rear view mirror. The nurses I know do it to get out of traffic tickets. (The thought is no cop wants to ticket a nurse or doctor who may see him under their care, bleeding from a gunshot wound on an operating table)

That may be a St. Louis thing, but that's what I've heard. (I come from a family of nurses).

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Markel

Sometimes when a Chicago cop stops someone they ask where they work. When a nurse answers with a hospital name, they will often be told to drive more carefully and have a nice day.

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cruelpupet

and why the f*** are you wearing my scrubs? And how did you get into my apartment?

cruelpupet

as long as she washed her hands or wore gloves, its all okay.

molecularfire

I'll confess to occasionally wearing scrubs to stop off at the store on my way home from work. I don't do it for ego purposes or for picking up chicks... doesn't seem to be particularly good for that anyways. Some months, I work some tough hours and am just too lazy to go home and change into street clothes then back to the grocery store to pick up some soda. IMO, there isn't any difference between me wearing regular clothes to the hospital, working and then stopping off at the store in regular work clothes versus me wearing scrubs to the hospital, working and then stopping off at the store in scrubs. I'm not a surgeon so I am not exposed to body fluids much and any procedures I actually do involve me gowning up in a separate gown which I discard after the procedure anyways, same with when I see a patient that has something particularly nasty. Also, Houdini is right, neckties have been shown to transfer germs much more than anything else by far.

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Disclaimer - The above opinion should not be taken as medical advise. My only advise is to talk to your doctor. If you are stupid enough to take anything I say seriously, you have nobody to blame for your cranio-anal inversion but your stupid self.

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