Nursing Uniform Hygiene
More commonly known here as "Scrubs" or "pajamas" uniforms are worn not only in hospitals but also outside, as in the television series. Do not look for the cameras if you're visiting New York and you meet someone in uniform on the street! Practice shocking to me that during my many courses nursing school, I had to change even to eat in the cafeteria. Here, most of my colleagues arrive at work scrubs, having dressed at home, then leave in the evening without change. I am one of the few nurses to make my outfits with me and change me into the unit. Yet I quickly realized that nothing was arranged for us to change on site. For a long time I changed in the toilets trying improbable balancing acts that neither my clothes or my outfits do not touch the ground. Then recently, we were furnished a room with lockers acting cloakroom. The only small problem is the temperature of the room which is close to zero, enough to discourage more than one! One advantage to some it is held out of bed is time savings, and for New Yorkers in a hurry, time is priceless. Some of my colleagues even wear their scrubs to go do their shopping on the days they do not work!
However, numerous studies show that our uniforms are vectors of infection. Last fall, the New York Times published an article entitled: "The doctor's hands are germ-free. The Scrubs Too? "(The hands of the doctors have no bacteria. Their uniforms either?). Some figures are particularly alarming. A comparison of the presence of pathogens on the neckties worn by doctors and those security guards at the hospital is made: 50% of physicians were contaminated ties against only 10% for security guards. The author also points to the fact that in Europe the uniforms are generally provided and maintained by the hospital, while in the U.S. everything is left to be borne by the employee. Indeed, I had to buy myself my outfits and I who take responsibility for their maintenance. The rules on dress are quite blurred. Moreover, most hospitals do not give any directive on the matter. Everyone buys the color, the shape of uniform he pleases. Some even wear simple T-shirts!
The article in The New York Times also gives the example of Denmark, where the rules are more stringent hygiene in particular outfits. In this country, less than 1% of staph infections are resistant against bacterial infections more than 50% in some U.S. hospitals. The author highlights the tight budgets of the hospitals or the lack of space for machinery maintenance. It seems nevertheless that the costs caused by nosocomial infections, which are no longer reimbursed by the state but at the expense of the hospital, the administration should consider .
To make matters worse, some Americans, as the nurse in charge of the fight against nosocomial infections in my hospital, have an unfortunate tendency to consider that no practice from abroad can not be greater than what is done to the States USA. Not easy to establish a dialogue and changing attitudes in these conditions! Yet they have much to learn from the French system where hygiene is the mainstay of our daily practice.
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