Hospital staff wearing fatigues as day clothes

S

Salvadore

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I was parked outside a hospital the other day and I noticed a number of staff leaving and getting into their cars still wearing their hospital fatigues.

To me, this seems unhygienic. If the purpose of fatigues is to provide a layer of protection that benefits a patient, what’s the point if they’re effectively been worn as street clothes. Then it’s really just a uniform.
 
Salvadore said:
To me, this seems unhygienic. If the purpose of fatigues is to provide a layer of protection that benefits a patient, what’s the point if they’re effectively been worn as street clothes. Then it’s really just a uniform.
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It's so everyone knows they are heroes....
 
Hospital staff are allowed to wear fatigues when leaving the hospital after their working shift. They know they must not enter any supermarkets etc wearing fatigues. I have no problem with hospital staff sitting into their cars in fatigues, but I would be concerned if they were using public transport while wearing fatigues.
 
They are called scrubs. They are meant to be worn in operating theatres and wards where cleanliness and infection prevention is required, as in they change into them after they have scrubbed themselves. We have high levels of MRSA and other infections in hospitals. This is mainly due to the heroes not following cleanliness best practice guidelines.
I've been present when a doctor walked out of an operating theatre to speak to the family and then attempted to re-enter the operating theatre without scrubbing down and changing their gown etc. Thankfully one of the patients family was a HIQA auditor and made a fuss.

If a hospital employee leaves their workplace wearing scrubs they certainly shouldn't wear them back in the next day. They may well also be putting member of the public at risk of infection by doing so.
 
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Let’s not forget that the wearing of scrubs in hospitals is not confined to doctors and nurses. Many other grades including Health Care Assistants, Cleaning Staff, etc can wear them also.

Wearing of scrubs is banned even if covered by a coat outside of the hospital grounds. A nurse wearing a nurses uniform (let alone scrubs) should not enter any public place. Doing so could mean trouble re proper and healthy procedure.
 
Leper said:
Let’s not forget that the wearing of scrubs in hospitals is not confined to doctors and nurses. Many other grades including Health Care Assistants, Cleaning Staff, etc can wear them also.
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Okay, soldiers (or people playing at being a soldier) wear fatigues, certain hospital employees wear scrubs. Maybe members of a MASH unit wear fatigues as well, I don't know.
 
Wearing scrubs outside the hospital isn’t necessarily dangerous, but it does pose some potential hygiene risks—both for you and for others.

Potential Risks:​

  1. Spreading Germs – If you've been in a high-risk area (like an ICU or ER), your scrubs could carry bacteria, viruses, or other contaminants. Wearing them outside might spread these germs to public spaces.
  2. Bringing Contaminants into the Hospital – If you wear scrubs outside before work, they could pick up dirt, bacteria, or even viruses from public places and introduce them into a healthcare setting.
  3. Low, but Possible Risk to Immunocompromised People – While the risk isn’t huge, people with weakened immune systems (like cancer patients) could be more vulnerable if exposed to contaminated scrubs.

How Risky Is It?​

  • In non-sterile environments (like general outpatient areas), the risk is low.
  • In high-risk hospital areas (like surgical units or ICUs), scrubs can get contaminated with more dangerous pathogens, increasing risk.
  • The chance of spreading disease in everyday public settings is low, but not zero.
Hospitals often require staff to change scrubs when entering or leaving high-risk areas, but for general medical staff, the risk is more about good hygiene than serious danger. If you're worried, bringing a change of clothes is a simple way to reduce any risk.
 
Our neighbour (Doctor) is constantly in them, seen him pulling out bins wearing them. If I'm in intensive care the last thing I should be worrying about is the Doctors hygiene or lack thereof.

Most uncomfortable looking gear anyway, made worse by the croc like footwear.

if it were me, I couldn't wait to get into my nice civilian clothes.
 
Duke of Marmalade said:
Wearing scrubs outside the hospital isn’t necessarily dangerous, but it does pose some potential hygiene risks—both for you and for others.
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It falls under the heading of "bad practice" and certainly it's best practice and isn't indicative of a cohort of world class healthcare employees, sorry, heroes.
 
But you should be worried. If you catch MRSA it's highly likely that it's due to the bad practices of the hospital employees rather than visitors.
 
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