For the vet/tech/assistant folks--wearing scrubs home?

[BuddyRoo]

I have two adult dogs at home, UTD on vaccines including bordatella.

It’s been awhile since I’ve worked in a clinic but back then, I didn’t have dogs in the house either. At that time, the only time I stripped out of scrubs and shoes was if we had a parvo dog in the hospital.

What is your general practice as far as changing clothes before you go home? I haven’t been. But I’ve recently been handling dogs with giardia, kennel cough, etc. First thing my dogs do when I get home is give me a good “sniff bath”. I’m wondering if I should be changing clothes before I go home?

I would ask at the clinic but they’re pretty laid back about other safety precautions that I do know are standard so I thought I’d see what you all do.

[tarynls]

I wore my scrubs home unless I was dealing with parvo, kennel cough, etc… (I had an epileptic Husky at the time that was minimally vaccinated as he would seize post vacc).

In your case, since your dog was so sick for so long and is now doing well - I would not tempt fate and I would change before leaving the clinic. I would likely change my shoes in my car (keep a dedicated pair of “work shoes”) and leave them in the garage or some place your dog doesn’t have access to.

Kudos to you for thinking of safety precautions!

[Horsegal984]

Eh. I don’t bother with changing before going home pretty much ever. If I’ve been dealing with something particularly nasty I strip inside the back door, which is right next to m washer.

Even with parvo etc I don worry too much, but we also have an isolation ward with booties, a foot bath and gowns to wear.

However if I had an immunocomprised animal at home I would use more precautions.

[BuddyRoo]

Tarynis–probably a totally random question…but did you by chance happen to live in Iowa back in the late 90’s, work in a clinic and go to tech school there? I ask because if your name is Taryn (very unique name), I used to work with a Taryn way back when I managed a vet clinic. Just wondering if by some crazy chance you and she are the same Taryn.

As for the precautions, thank you. Yeah, I’m kind of thinking about a dedicated pair of work shoes given that I take the dogs out to walk at the clinic and it’s the same patch o’ grass so if we end up w/ Giarida and I’m walking through it, I’m probably likely to bring something home.

However, with no yard in our area, all of our walks are in areas frequented by other dogs too so they’re just as likely being exposed at home.

[QUOTE=tarynls;6942165]
I wore my scrubs home unless I was dealing with parvo, kennel cough, etc… (I had an epileptic Husky at the time that was minimally vaccinated as he would seize post vacc).

In your case, since your dog was so sick for so long and is now doing well - I would not tempt fate and I would change before leaving the clinic. I would likely change my shoes in my car (keep a dedicated pair of “work shoes”) and leave them in the garage or some place your dog doesn’t have access to.

Kudos to you for thinking of safety precautions![/QUOTE]

[tarynls]

[QUOTE=BuddyRoo;6942199]
Tarynis–probably a totally random question…but did you by chance happen to live in Iowa back in the late 90’s, work in a clinic and go to tech school there? I ask because if your name is Taryn (very unique name), I used to work with a Taryn way back when I managed a vet clinic. Just wondering if by some crazy chance you and she are the same Taryn.[/QUOTE]

Nope, I’m not the same Taryn - although there are not many Taryn’s around so I can see why you’d ask! My small animal vet experience was at an emerg/referral clinic in NJ.

[BuddyRoo]

Gotcha. Figured it was worth asking as I’ve never known another person by that name.

Anyway, thank you for your post!

[Marshfield]

I wear mine home. The one catch, if I interact with anything suspect, I shower and change before I even see another patient.

[danceronice]

If you have shoes that would stand up to it, you could do a step-through at home (a tray/pan with bleach water.) At the zoo we had to walk through them in holding areas to avoid carrying anything between species-there generally wasn’t any NEED but the policy was better safe than sorry, especially with the primates. If you’re worried about your dog picking up something, I’d say err on the side of caution.

(Honestly, though, vets/techs/assistants wearing scrubs home worries me less than the doctors and nurses I see wearing theirs!)

[cowboymom]

I always changed the instant I got home, if we had something especially worrisome I stopped on the porch and threw the clothes in the wash but my SOP was always to change the minute I got home. I’m slightly germaphobic but I have so many animals I figure an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure…

[Beckham03]

I where mine home. Because of where I work they are on top of anything that maybe contagious, ringworm, etc. If I have been exposed, I will strip down before walking in the house. But it isn’t very often. When I interned at OSU, we had to change when we got there and before we left. but the techs who worked there didn’t.

[kmwines01]

I change in the garage if I’ve been around anything suspicious. Last summer when I was involved in a parvo study I changed before I got in the car because I had a 5 month old pup at home.

[Megaladon]

I leave my scrub top at work and it gets cleaned there.

[CarolinaGirl]

Same as most everyone. I wear mine home. If we deal with anything bad I come in through the garage, strip down there, and walk them straight to the washer. Both my dogs are fully vaccinated and get heartworm pills every month that controls most of your everyday worms. Mine have had KC once when my foster dog picked it up getting spayed at the local spay/neuter clinic that the rescue scheduled. I don’t get too paranoid about most things though.

[future_vet]

I change at the clinic if dealing with anything contagious (parvo, etc) but otherwise I just wear my scrubs home and change as soon as I get there.

[SquishTheBunny]

Thought I already posted…guess not.

We have to leave our scrubs/shoes at work. We change at work, leave the scrubs there and they get washed for us. Its not a general practice, so we see lots of critically ill and immunocompromised patients. They are more worried that we could be bringing IN things on our scrubs/shoes rather than us leaving and taking anything home with us.

Either way, scrubs/shoes stay at work. We have an isolation ward for any patients requiring it (ie. kennel cough, parvo) and a reverse isolation for patients receiving chemotherapy or other immunocompromising drugs.

At the General Practice clinic I worked at, I did wear scrubs to/home from work and never had any issues with my own pets.

[Chall]

I see human nurses? Aides? In scrubs ON THE SUBWAY. Gack! I want to ask them where they work so I never end up there. The subway is a Petrie dish.:eek:

[GraceLikeRain]

When I got home I would always leave my shoes outside and once inside I made it a point to shower and change in a timely manner. The only time I changed at work was for parvo cases or something equally contagious. I also always scrubbed my hand and arms up to my elbows before I left work and then did a quick wash again once I got home and took my shoes off.

[SarahKing]

I work at a specialty / emergency hospital that provides scrubs and has shoe storage, so we don’t transfer bugs back and forth. Very convenient when you get poop / pee / charcoal / blood on you!