By: R

Sat, 14 Jul 2012 22:31:31 +0000

I find it odd that this was posted in a “Science” section as there is no scientific organization or thought given in the writing of this article.
I agree that health care professionals should not wear their scrubs in public… but for the exact opposite reason this “article” claims. We should not wear them in public to protect our patients from all of the parasitic agents we would pick up in those public places. You see, every time someone exchanges money, opens a door, shakes someone’s hand, etc… they are exchanging all of the germs this article mentions. As a matter of fact, when cultured, a bathroom door handle in a public restroom has MORE bacteria on it than the toilet seats in those same bathrooms. Gross.

Also, the MRSA statistic mentioned above fails to note that it is standard procedure to don full PPE including a disposable gown and mask prior to entering a MRSA positive patient’s room and those items are disposed of in an isolation area before leaving that patient’s room.

And as for ” Yet medical staff – who we trust to provide us a safe, sterile environment when we visit them – don’t seem to care.”… this is an erraneous statement. We NEVER guarantee a sterile environment outside of the sterile fields and equipment we use for sterile procedures. That’s not possible, much less something one would “guarantee”. Healthcare professionsals are trained in SAFETY more than anything else and those HCWs that are competent and have professional integrity provide safe care that often saves lives, limbs and always prevent the spread of pathogenic microorganisms.

So maybe, just maybe, the writer should consider researching the facts before making disparaging, erroneous statements about HCWs.

Comments on: Doctors, nurses, and other medical professionals spread germs everywhere they go

By: R