Scientist: nurses aren't washing their uniforms correctly


A microbiologist has found that nurses are not washing their uniforms correctly because guidelines are "sometimes quite vague".

Doctor Katie Laird from DeMontford University conducted the study and stated that nurses "should be washing at 60 degrees celcius for ten minutes" in order to remove micro-organisms that could cause infection from textiles.

However, the study has shown that "forty-nine percent of nurses were washing at lower than 60" which could enable bacteria to survive on their clothes.



http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02n2y3c

Nurses were always known to be clotty.

Did I say that out loud, lol....oh well

Well--if the question ever comes up in a pub quiz!

I think it would be better if nurses and doctors had to change into their ward clothes ONCE they got to work , and out of them to go home, then they should be laundered properly by the hospital .Fresh uniforms supplied every day.

How many ward staff for instance get dressed in the morning , maybe take the dog out, drop kids off at playschool or whatever ,rubbing uniforms against snotty playground railings, drop into local shop, wafting past unhygienic cardboard boxes, doorways etc , and then on to work. How can we be sure staff religiously put on a fresh uniform each day at home anyway?

I`m sure this used to happen when we had matrons.

I thought this did happen! I remember my mum, who was a theatre sister for many years, never left or returned home in her uniform and she would report anyone she saw outside the hospital in theirs!

The source is the BBC aka Busy Backing Conservatives. Anything to diss the N.H.S....

Don't be so daft Rude!

Hospitals stopped doing the laundry of uniforms years ago, and has consistently been brought to the news forums over the previous years.

Plus they can claim for washing their own uniforms.

By the time they have got the bus to work... well who knows what they've picked up.

Agree with all Venice's points .

Please do not patronise my view point Granny.

Yes, I am aware of this.

I agree. I have worked in private Nursing Homes and carers were not allowed to wear uniform to work.
[/quote]

The rules are determined by each Hospital Trust.

So some may, but obviously many don't.

If you don't want to be patronised, don't say daft things

Here you go again, Granny..

granny is there any need to try to belittle people?

Stay out of it

in a word NO!

wikiopinion

BBC are so left wing they've fallen off.

http://www.nomagic.org.uk/is-the-bbc-left-wing-or-right-wing

Which suggests impartial, right?

The problem with internet research is you can say something and then find something to back it up, rather than do your own research.

Do some research and form an opinion; I have.

I believe that if you look t the care label inside any nurses uniform it will say to wash and 40 degrees. 60 degrees will probably shrink it!!!

Alternatively it suggests that other people have different opinions from you and you are not necessarily always correct. It could also form the basis of a reasonable discussion. Looking at your recent posts it seems that you do not welcome any opinion which does not conform to your own.

wikiopinion

All this thread has really done is demonstrate that AAA+ washing machines with super dooper all whistles and bells low temperature wash washing powders would appear to be a con! Or has it?
Which? put 12 washing machines to the test and measured the top temperature they reached during a 60ºC  wash and how long that temperature was maintained. Eight of the machines did not get to 60 degrees at all. The lowest top temperature was 43°C.
Most of the machines kept the water cooler than 50°C for the majority of the program. That’s not exactly what you might expect if you’re using the 60°C wash with the hope of keeping your laundry bacteria-free.
The test results suggest that a typical 60°C wash can’t be relied upon to kill bacteria, especially if your machine only reaches this temperature for a couple of minutes (or not at all).
Which? also asked a microbiologist for advice about ridding laundry of bugs and he explained that the real key to wiping out bacteria is using a good laundry detergent to wash them away. Detergents are much more effective than they used to be at lower temperatures, so even if your machine doesn’t get to 60°C, a good detergent can remove bacteria and viruses.
I very rarely use a 60°C wash at home. I prefer to be as energy and water efficient as I can and use a fast program that washes at 30°C. I used to wonder if I was taking any chances by not using a hotter wash on things like towels and sheets. It is clear that laundry detergent and wash duration has a major role to play in bug removal as well as stain removal.

See....told ya......BBC- as a source, is full of crap!!

We'll go by this report then! Same crap eh?

http://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/Half-nurses-washing-uniform-right/story-26250259-detail/story.html


http://www.nursingtimes.net/nursing...locktitle=News-archive&contentID=700

For every report by a leading expert in any field you will most certainly always find a counter claim. Neither one may be wrong but the most convincing argument is usually the one that wins.

So it's all rubbish then. Fine......

An opinion which is hardly believable when there is so much infection transmitted within hospitals.

No doubt this can be counterclaimed as well.

Cool your jets, Granny!!! It's just the internet.

Encouraging pictures aren't they ? Will be firing on all four cylinders soon.

a tad ott H, I have asked Mark to have a look Yuk

Enjoy. It's after midnight now. It's 'Granny Time'....

Not OTT when you know people who have suffered from it, in the last month !

Isn't that surely what this is all about Dusty ?

Go to bed !

NO!!!! Rather sit here and wait for your latest Copy and Paste.....

I would say some constructive comment like find a hospital that does it right and make it the standard across the service is what it is about.Best practice.I don't hide from reality but Wiki is a million miles away from that and long may it be so.You are well respected on here from what I have observed. I have been here longer than you may think.

Well now someone has gone to bed, I shall answer you.
You are probably right Dusty, but having been somewhat bemused as to how another can remark that certain claims can always be counterclaimed, simply thought that the proof of the pudding is in the visual.
Anyway, not too perturbed should Mark remove them.
With respect to your comment about searching for the right hospital; suggestion of giving the Royal a miss.
Not only has the person I know had it once, but twice, on two separate hospital admissions to the same hospital, 12 months apart!

I'm not in bed yet!
No need to be bemused by the statement regarding counter claims, this thread could be seen as such an example. Simply saying 'We'll go by this thread then' doesn't mean everyone has to follow and agree. I would appreciate any notation regarding each of the pictures posted and their specific relevance as the second one doesn't appear relevant. Having served as a combat med tech for many moons I could add several pages of gratuitous graphic images. The thread was regarding cleanliness and virii etc. (i know virii is 'barstard' latin). Before any toys are thrown from cots, I actually agree best hygiene methods would improve a lot of situations but that would take a major shift in policy and funding.

All cases of MRSA, the second one is as relevant as any image of MRSA. You can do your own search, all you have to do is look for the images. They're on the 'internet' !
If serving as a combat med. tech. for so long, I would have assumed you could have even identified the images !

Wow you are being a feisty old bird today! My dear Granny, there are many forms of  staph skin infections which can be seen to form in the same way, that doesn't make them all a 'super bug'. I was taught to never guess but to assume the worse in order to give the best treatment first. The second image was of a foreign body protruding from an open wound and whilst it was intresting would only have served as a means of ingress. With my poor eye site and using a mobile phone I could not see any infection. You really need to reign in a little more. You are shooting at friendlies over here. That's the problem with the internet, instead of years of training we all become instant experts, a little knowledge can be a dangerous thing.

Nobody has to be an expert in the knowledge that MRSA exists, is real and continues, through cross contamination, affecting patients in our hospitals.

No body seems to be disagreeing with that Granny, come down from that horse, it can be a lonely place to be. The pictures you posted were a clear indication that mrsa exists, what the pictures didn't say was where the origin of the infection started.

It didn't need to say where. Those images are a clear indication of the dire results caused. The second one, in case you are still wondering was after an operation to have the 'bug'/infection cut away.

.....and my horse is a sturdy steed.

Things to do, places to go. Bye for now.

I'm always curious when it comes to such graphic images. I've still not come across the dreaded 2nd image to clarify it. Most people don't seem to realise that about 1% of the populace actually carry mrsa and that it is also carried by household pets like cats and dogs. Also, with most presented cases, it is difficult to find the origin of the infection.
Hey ho Silver away!

Found it! It was an image from a youtube clip. The foreign object that looked like it was protruding from the wound was a swab being removed. A very interesting video clip.