With the problem of MRSA and hospital infections, should doctors wear disposable clothes?

Question

If infection is such a problem in hospitals then should consultants and doctors and nurses wear disposable clothing? Presumably at the moment they just stick their clothes in a washing machine but is the temperature high enough to kill MRSA germs?

Answer 1

Ordinary clothes washing is fine, I am sure that newly laundered clothing is no problem. It is picking up infection from one patient and shifting it on to the next or picking it up from a dirty surface in a ward less than perfectly clean.

It has been difficult to persuade doctors even to wash their hands between patients. As long ago as the late 1840's, Dr. Ignaz Semmelweis was an assistant in the maternity wards of a Vienna hospital. There he observed that the mortality rate in a delivery room staffed by medical students was up to three times higher than in a second delivery room staffed by midwives. In fact, women were terrified of the room staffed by the medical students. Semmelweis observed that the students were coming straight from their lessons in the autopsy room to the delivery room. He postulated that the students might be carrying the infection from their dissections to birthing mothers. He ordered doctors and medical students to wash their hands with a chlorinated solution before examining women in labour. The mortality rate in his maternity wards eventually dropped to less than one percent.

Patients like doctors to wear ties, ( I never do). These have been shown to flop about between patients and spread infection.

Your suggestion of wearing disposable clothes is probably unnecessary and impractical since to be useful they would need to be changed when moving from one patient to the next, to make them worthwhile, but disposable gloves and aprons, new for each patient is not without merit. When I worked in infectious diseases years ago, when they still had an infectious diseases hospital in Glasgow, that is exactly what we did.

Answer 2

When nursing a patient with an infection such as MRSA or C Diff, patients are what we called 'barrier nursed'. We wear protective aprons and gloves which we remove before leaving an infected patients' room. They are all nursed in isolation.

Much to the publics' surprise, the main cause of MRSA infections come from the carriers of the infection, ie patients that carry it on their skin, have surgery, then it establishes itself into a wound. Another source is visitors. I dont dispute the fact that there are a minority of medical staff who 'forget' to wash their hands when they should and this is a disgrace, but the majority of us healthcare workers are on top of our hygiene practices.

We do use alcohol between every contact of patients, and doctors are not ogres and do believe in handwashing and dont think it is beneath them.

People need to stop reading the rubbish in the papers and start looking into the real facts behind these type of infections and not pinning all the blame on us healthcare professionals.

Answer 3

We nurses do not need to wear disposable clothing. We follow all standard precautions. And when we see our patients in isolation, we wear PPE (personal protective equipment). We know what we're doing. Now doctors are an entirely different matter. Unless it's an Infectious Disease specialist, most are not as careful as nurses. But there's no way they're going to wear disposable clothing or even change into scrubs first. At least (where I work) they wash their hands between paitents.

What the physician said about the med students and the maternity ward is true. I am also familiar with this bit of history. As well, the fact he mentioned about ties is also true. Wise male doctors, flip the tie over the shoulder before approaching a patient.

Answer 4

MRSA and nocosomial infections are quite prevalent in hospitals, however, it is never the question of a change in disposable clothing. Ultimately, it is the practise of healthcare workers to exercise good (common sense) aseptic techniques when attending to patients.
In MRSA, there should have extra precautions for both patients and healthcare workers, e.g. disposable gowns, fine filter masks (3M), disposables gloves and an alcohol-based hand-rub, a face shield is crucial to prevent aerosol droplets on falling onto the eye membranes.
For other "more common" infections, improving the ventilation and exhaust of the ambient air within the ward would have been sufficient with adequate HEPA filters to circulate clean air back into the ward. Rounded floor kerbs would also helped in minimising infection so dust and microbes would not collect in corners.
Hospital administrators are just not willing to expend valuable resources to curb such infections!

Answer 5

When someone has MRSA the medical personnel who care for them must wear isolation clothing, along with the gloves, ans masks. However in caring for the general patient it's not done. It could cause a massive increase in healthcare costs- if everyone had to use isolation clothing all of the time.

Answer 6

even if you never been in hospital you can have mrsa it only pick up in there because of all the screening done to patient. if visitor stopped sitting on beds only visited 2 at a time help yourself to stop spread of it or do you want hospitals to stop screening it more likely to have been around for years but because of screening you here about it more

Answer 7

This will not do much good, what it needs is proper cleaners, and until they get them instead of contract cleaners, the MRSA and the likes will still be running wild. Plus all staff need training on how to be hygienic.

Answer 8

My dad caught MRSA twice while in hospital, they never even told us, one nurse let it slip, so how could we even know about the posibility of spreading it, doctors think they are above washing their hands, so they could at least wear pretective disposable overalls.

Answer 9

yes that's a great idea.my mothers life ended in a hosp,after miner day surgery.she had a cyst cut and was to be released to home'instead she caught a bacteraial infection'which no antibiotics would even help.all they did was make her more ill.2weeks later her body had all shut down due to 106 and 107 fevers..she left behind a 5yr old son and we are the last 2 left in our family..i have to have major surgery April 3rd and i am scared to death..will i too also get a infection from the operating room and die in the i.c.u.ward also.....i pray not....LOL

Answer 10

Getting them to wear a uniform is impossible so getting them to agree to disposable clothes is not gonna happen. It's one rule for one! Plus, think of the extra cost!