Changing in to scrubs

RE: Changing in to scrubs

Heather Bacon — Thu, 25 Jan 2018 21:54:47 GMT

We wear normal clothes to work, change in to scrubs and I wash our uniforms at home.

I keep my clean scrubs at home and a spare set in my locker at work.

RE: Changing in to scrubs

Dove — Thu, 25 Jan 2018 15:33:45 GMT

We travel to work in our work clothes and change into scrubs/crocs if we go into theatre. Certainly not gold standard but this is what we do.

RE: Changing in to scrubs

Nichola231 — Tue, 23 Jan 2018 14:22:56 GMT

I am less and less keen on this rule now haha I can see the idea behind it but I don't think it's something we can fully achieve.

RE: Changing in to scrubs

Alison Clare Hickman — Tue, 23 Jan 2018 11:20:59 GMT

http://www.thebellamossfoundation.com/wp-content/uploads/BMF-Laundry-Protocol-amended-0908.pdf

RE: Changing in to scrubs

Alison Clare Hickman — Tue, 23 Jan 2018 11:15:08 GMT

Forgot to include that clean scrubs were stored in zip-lock plastic bags to keep them dust/dirt/other contaminant free...

Ali h

RE: Changing in to scrubs

Alison Clare Hickman — Tue, 23 Jan 2018 11:00:43 GMT

[quote user="Nichola231"]risk of cross-contamination?[/quote]

Yes!

This is what we did in a hospital environment that only had one large capacity 'launderette-style' washing machine.

Take off used scrubs and put them into the 'dry scrubs bin' (lidded). This was disinfected and dried after each emptying. Normally we would expect a full load every other day.
Wait until we had sufficient for a wash load. (This means you have to have a decent supply of scrubs to cope with the washing-go-round).
Run the washing machine empty on hottest setting with an Anistel dose in the powder drawer. Gets rid of hair and any other potential contaminants. Not a perfect way but better than not doing this...
Put the scrubs into the machine on a 60 degree wash with powder and Anistel.
Tumble-dry the scrubs*
Iron the scrubs*
Store scrubs in a dry, clean environment.

*kills bacteria

The collection of scrubs waiting for a load is recommended only for scrubs that are gross contaminant-free (eg blood or other body fluids).

For the scrubs that were grossly contaminated they were soaked in cold water first. [It would be daft to have put them in the lidded 'dry' bin and leave them 'breeding' in a warm plastic environment!). So, such scrubs were put into a lidded bucket of cold water (like a nappy bin) and with a dose of Anistel in it. This was a daily wash; following the protocol above and done at the start of the day or at night. Sometimes we could combine the collected load with the daily load...

Hth?

Ali h

RE: Changing in to scrubs

Nichola231 — Tue, 23 Jan 2018 08:52:06 GMT

My main concern is exposing my normal clothes to whatever bugs managed to survive my strict cleaning protocols. Since we only have one machine and one place to change, is there risk of cross-contamination?

RE: Changing in to scrubs

Steph Worsley — Mon, 22 Jan 2018 22:36:27 GMT

At the hospital I worked at we did had to change into our work clothes at work and if we had to go into a different building on site or were leaving site at all we had to change back into our normal clothes.

We still took our uniforms home and laundered them at home though....much easier as then you can make sure that you get your own uniforms back, and obviously they aren't washed in the same machine as patient bedding etc

RE: Changing in to scrubs

V E S — Mon, 22 Jan 2018 22:02:52 GMT

I haven't seen this in normal practice but I believe this is commonly used in zoos to prevent zoonosis spreading.

Maybe they could invest in a scrubs only washing machine?