06 October 2009

Hey, Obama, and Doctors, and Nurses, and Other Medical Technicians, Lab Coats, Scrubs, and the Like, Should Be For Hospitals ONLY...

The NY Post points out (via Althouse, with her take on it here) that the Obama Adminstration in stage managing their doctor photo op prescribed the wearing of lab coats so that all the doctors assembled looked more doctorly rather than like a bunch of professionals in suits.

I guess they feared that in the minds of many, driven by folks like Michael Moore (another Althouse post at link) and his latest agitprop Кино, that in the minds of fellow progressives the following equation applies

SUITS=EVIL (or at the very least, Republican)



So, they encouraged the doctors in the photo to play dress up.

This brings me to one huge pet peeve of mine. The purpose of having special garb that hospital staff wear, is to minimize the possibility of cross contamination, and the original intent was that garb stayed in the hospital. The point of the lab coat is that it stays in the lab so that if some stray virus has found its way on it, the doctor in that lab coat doesn't then bring that virus with them when he or she runs off to their favorite restaurant while they grab a bite to eat. I live surrounded by hospitals and labs, and any time I'm out during lunch break hours I see a sea of scrubs and lab coats on the street and in various eating establishments. I know many hospitals have cut out laundry service, and don't issue these clothes like they used to, but that doesn't mean staff should wear these clothes out and about in public. Rather than telling people how to sneeze into the crook of their arms, maybe they should remind health professionals that they are a primary channel by which new bugs spread.

Heckuva job on preventing the potential spread of disease, buddies and budettes.

3 comments:

abetterjulie said...

I think it is kind of a stretch to blame Obama for this.

chickelit said...

I know many hospitals have cut out laundry service, and don't issue these clothes like they used to, but that doesn't mean staff should wear these clothes out and about in public.

That's asking a lot. My wife works as a nurse in San Diego. There no such thing as hospital-provided scrubs. They buy their own.
At least when she comes home, she refuses to touch or be touched until she changes.

XWL said...

They buy their own.
At least when she comes home, she refuses to touch or be touched until she changes.


That shows she's aware it's a problem, if medical staff doesn't have time to change before going out for lunch, then eat in the hospital and don't go out.

Not doing so puts everyone at greater risk than is necessary.

I think public health should trump the convenience or time management challenges of hospital staff, I guess I'm just a hardass that way.