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.
 
Leper said:
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.
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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.
 
Persia said:
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.
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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.
 
Purple said:
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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I am worried when I attend hospitals

I have health care-assitants visiting me twice weekly, the same person for extended periods, 8-12 months at a time. They don PPE at my door, mask, gloves, apron over street clothes. They discard the PPE before they leave. I have no infectious diseases.

I have specialist nurses who visit me less frequently, usually quarterly, more often if needed. They wear PPE as above and dispose of it as above. They take blood and other fluids when testing and change gloves for each sample and test. All the stuff they use, bar the sharps and fluids which they take away in specialist containers in their specialist vehicles, is disposed of before they leave.

In hospitals I have been asked to undress for various kinds of specialist imaging, discarding shoes and socks, and having donned a gown, I've been invited to walk barefoot across the hospital floor from the cubicle until I demanded disposable slippers. I was refused permission to wear my own shoes as they were deemed to be a "trip hazard" if I left them on the floor near the machine.

I have been invited to pile my clothing on the floor as there were no hangers available. I refused and demanded a disposable plastic bag.

Some of the stuff I see in hospitals scares me, but what I see is only a tiny fraction of what goes on.

During lock-down I have read and heard news reports that infectious disease instances and outbreaks in hospitals were reduced dramatically. "They" say that was because public visiting was restricted; I say "they" were more diligent about PPE and clinical hygiene, perhaps because they feared for their own health & safety..

I'm due to visit a very large Dublin hospital early next week; I'll keep my eyes and ears open.
 
mathepac said:
Some of the stuff I see in hospitals scares me, but what I see is only a tiny fraction of what goes on.
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I agree. I have seen appallingly unsafe behaviour in A&E's and on wards and staff who seem to be completely oblivious to what they are doing, even though they have definitely been trained correctly.
mathepac said:
During lock-down I have read and heard news reports that infectious disease instances and outbreaks in hospitals were reduced dramatically. "They" say that was because public visiting was restricted; I say "they" were more diligent about PPE and clinical hygiene, perhaps because they feared for their own health & safety..
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Yes, that was almost entirely down to employees doing what they are actually meant to do all the time, the main one being washing their hands.

I was in the Eye and Ear Hospital about 30 years ago (I was around 20 at the time) and a doctor was examining patients in the following manner; wash hands and put on gloves, examine patient taking notes with his pen as he did so, remove gloves, wash hands, move on to next patient and repeat. When I refused to allow him to touch he because he was cross contaminating everyone with his pen he became aggressive and asked me if I was a doctor.
 
When you are being treated for any illness in a hospital you are entitled to ask questions. I don’t think any nurse, doctor, attendant etc would give a smart Alec answer using a Smart Alec question. Litigation is rife in our hospital system so I don’t see competent staff giving the patient more ammunition against themselves.

The non wearing of name and grade tags by hospital staff is an issue too. When you ask a question do you know if it is directed at a doctor, nurse, attendant etc? If there is no name tag being worn you just don’t know.
 
Leper said:
Litigation is rife in our hospital system so I don’t see competent staff giving the patient more ammunition against themselves.
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The trouble is that litigation is taken against the hospitals rather than the individual doctors, nurses etc that may have caused the damage. They remain personally unaccountable and that’s really where the problem lies.
 
Salvadore said:
The trouble is that litigation is taken against the hospitals rather than the individual doctors, nurses etc that may have caused the damage. They remain personally unaccountable and that’s really where the problem lies.
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Yea, but we hardly want a situation where in individual could be sued.
 
An individual being held to account for their actions/inactions in the HSE or other large health organisation in Ireland? Have you taken leave of your senses completely this time? Change a century of custom and practice is it? Once they're ensconced in the cosiness of public service don't you know that they are inviolable? This is spite the fact that we pay through the nose for the insurance premia, ours and theirs.

Individual responsibility and accountability in Ireland, my Aunt Fanny. Harrumph.
 
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