DH is bringing home diseases!

I never thought about this. DH wears scrubs and his Crocs home and washes the scrubs with all the rest of the laundry. Of course he's doing the NICU right now so I don't think there are any illnesses he could bring home.

Right before I fell asleep last night, it dawned on me that DH throws his scrubs in with our regular load of clothes.

Note to self: need to discuss with DH tonight.

If the scrubs are washed with bleach, wouldn't it create a tie-dyed look or ruin them?

[DCJenn]

I don't think if it's added during the 'official' bleach cycle, it'll ruin them. It may lighten them.

Jenn

I don't think if it's added during the 'official' bleach cycle, it'll ruin them. It may lighten them.

Jenn

Thank you so much, Jenn. I will have to try it out after I have a discussion with DH. Wish me luck!

Ew. DH never brings home scrubs. He does occasionally come home with blood spattered clothes but they go right in the wash with bleach and hospital grade clothing disinfectant.

I am actually more worried about real diseases DH could bring home in him. They get pricked in surgery a lot so they all get tested every 3 months. It seems so odd to me that they think getting pricked is normal.

[SuzySunshine]

They get pricked in surgery a lot so they all get tested every 3 months. It seems so odd to me that they think getting pricked is normal.

Um, yay - that would concern me more then dirty scrubs.

[Stella]

jem - Just use color safe bleach.

I'm a little bit of a germ-phobe...but DH has a separate laundry basket to put his yucky scrubs in. If it were up to me, he'd just exchange them at the hospital for a new pair each day :huh: ...but whatever, he's kinda weird about his scrubs.

Other people's bodily fluids really creeps me out! The medical field would be a very bad career fit for me.

And seriously, have you heard of the SUPER-GERMS floating around in hospitals now. Scary!

[MissCrabette]

We have a 3 compartment laundry basket and scrubs have a compartment all to themselves. They also get washed separately. Yuck.

Once he's in residency I'd like to adopt Cheri's plan. Dedicated hospital shoes and scrubs laundered at the hospital. I can dream...

[SuzySunshine]

We have a 3 compartment laundry basket and scrubs have a compartment all to themselves. They also get washed separately. Yuck.

Once he's in residency I'd like to adopt Cheri's plan. Dedicated hospital shoes and scrubs laundered at the hospital. I can dream...

I can't take credit for the plan it was actually DH that won't bring his shoes home (you know brain matter, cervical fluid - yuck!) and since he's not allowed to wear scrubs in or out of the hospital we don't have to worry about washing them.

[migirl]

So ... you all can think I'm disgusting, but ... DH wears his scrubs to and from work and I wash them with our regular household laundry. If it's clearly blood- or urine-spattered he changes into fresh scrubs at the hospital before coming home, but otherwise he wears them home and around the house. Should I be ... ???

I was talking to DH about this last night, and he pointed out that ANY clothing that is worn to/from the hospital (shirts, pants, neckties, etc.) is likely to be contaminated with germs/bacteria/whatever - it's not isolated to just scrubs. Seeing patients in clinic, coming into contact with sick people in elevators and hallways ... germs are transmitted lots of ways, not just in the OR.

I'm also much more afraid of needlesticks. At least every few months I open a piece of mail from the hospital clinic saying that DH needs to come in and get a blood test for a needlestick that I knew nothing about.

[Vanquisher]

So ... you all can think I'm disgusting, but ... DH wears his scrubs to and from work and I wash them with our regular household laundry. If it's clearly blood- or urine-spattered he changes into fresh scrubs at the hospital before coming home, but otherwise he wears them home and around the house. Should I be ... ???

I was talking to DH about this last night, and he pointed out that ANY clothing that is worn to/from the hospital (shirts, pants, neckties, etc.) is likely to be contaminated with germs/bacteria/whatever - it's not isolated to just scrubs. Seeing patients in clinic, coming into contact with sick people in elevators and hallways ... germs are transmitted lots of ways, not just in the OR.

I do usually wash them in their own load, but not always. In ortho they get a lot of stuff on them too! I only ask that if they are visibly contaminated they stay at the hospital. It would be completely impossible to keep dh sealed and sterile.

For the first time ever, and we are 5 years past med school, DH came home last night (very late ) and took off his scrubs and put them in a plastic bag to take back to the hospital. I won't repeat what he told me about the patient he had just seen, but YIKES!

I am looking at all of his scrubs differently now.

BTW, I read somewhere long ago that doctors' neckties carried huge amounts of germs because they get lots of patient contact and are rarely washed or cleaned.

[migirl]

BTW, I read somewhere long ago that doctors' neckties carried huge amounts of germs because they get lots of patient contact and are rarely washed or cleaned.

Here is an article published from a study done in 2004

Nasty Neckties: Doctors' Ties Carry Germs
Ties Look Professional but May Carry Infection Risks for Patients
By Jeanie Lerche Davis
WebMD Medical NewsReviewed by Charlotte Grayson Mathis, MDMay 24, 2004

Dry clean frequently: Nearly half of all doctors' neckties carry disease-causing bacteria, a new study shows. They could spread infection among patients.

It's a wake-up call for doctors and other medical personnel. While wearing a tie looks professional, frequent cleaning should be standard practice.

"Studies such as this remind us about what we may bring to our patients' bedside," says researcher Steven J. Nurkin, with New York Hospital Medical Center of Queens.

He presented his findings at the 104th general meeting of the American Society for Microbiology in New Orleans.

In his study, Nurkin and his colleagues sampled neckties worn by male doctors, physician assistants, and medical students in a New York hospital.

During three randomly selected days, researchers collected the ties from the male clinicians in the surgical, medical, and cardiac intensive care units as well as surgical and medical floors. All the volunteers in this study were known to have daily contact with patients. Researchers also collected ties worn by hospital security guards -- people who have little interaction with patients.

And the Results Were ...

Laboratory testing showed that 20 of 42 clinicians' neckties carried bacteria, compared with 1 out of 10 of the ties worn by security guards, reports Nurkin.

In fact, a doctor was eight times more likely to carry potential disease-causing bacteria on his tie, compared with a security guard. None of the most prevalent germs was multidrug resistant, he says.

Is wearing a necktie really in the patient's best interest? Although medical staff and other hospital professionals are encouraged to wear ties, "the transmission of infection to patients ... must be considered," he says.


SOURCE: 104th general meeting of the American Society for Microbiology, New Orleans, May 23-27, 2004.

I agree with Heidi (Vanquisher). There's no way DH can come home completely, 100% clean and germ-free.

[Deebs]

One of the hospitals i worked at previously did their own infection control study. they were trying to decide whether or not to require scrubs-only attire for rounding, etc. They found that the doc's pagers carried more germs than any of the clothing they wore. So, while we do color safe bleach and hot loads for scrubs, the cell phone and pager also get frequent Clorox wipe downs.

We have moved into an area with tons of community acquired MRSA, so DH is a little more conscientious than he used to be about what he's bringing home.

[SuzySunshine]

So here is a naive question - how do you clean ties? Dry cleaner?