To ask why all these nursing/care uniforms being worn in public?!

[GinDaddyRedux]

I'm not trying to start a flame war here about the importance of people's contributions or whatever. This is something that is genuinely getting my goat.

Twice in the last week I have gone to a supermarket, first for food, and then latterly for medicine for my DC.

Both times (which is perhaps a coincidence in itself) I have seen someone from a caring profession - one a nurse I think, the other a care home worker, wearing their full uniform out around the shop. At both times it was towards the end of the day (when I finish working from home) so it looked like it was the end of their shift rather than lunchtime.

My question is, why is this allowed and actively encouraged from what I see on social media?

I think the reason is clear - the uniform wearers enjoy the kind public comments and encouragement. It provides a visual identifier that they are one of the people to be clapped or whatever.

What gets me though is surely this is an infection control nightmare? Why are people not being asked by their heads of department to change at work, thereby limiting the chances of infecting the public?

For those who say you don't have "dedicated changing facilities" - do toilet cubicles count? I just am perhaps understandably nervous at the idea that the lady who walked right up next to me, no distancing, in full uniform in the cheese aisle reaching across for cheddar, is wearing the same clothing used to treat people who may have had COVID-19.

If this is unreasonable of me then fair enough, but I really think this is a "look at me" thing. It's a tough profession and it's nice to be thanked in public, but it feels like this is a potentially big price to pay for a bit of congratulation.

Carers who work in the community have a lot of houses to visit do you expect them to change every time they go from house to blooming house these people are out doing their best in shitty times leave them alone get on with your own shopping and business.

This thread has made me a bit sad.

My DD is 18 and since her A levels were cancelled she has often been working 12 hour shifts as a carer, in a heat wave. She visits a number of clients in their own home and drives from house to house.

She's just turned 18 and feels proud to be doing such a rewarding job and gets excellent feedback from her clients about her maturity and sensitive manner.

She finds the job very rewarding but also emotionally challenging. She has even had to give end of life care to one elderly lady. Generally, she is proud to be making a difference to somebody's day and I am proud of her for choosing a caring role.

Her organisational skills aren't at the same level as mine, though, and she sometimes fails to pack enough food and drink to last the whole day in sweltering heat. I suppose that this is not that surprising given that she has a very early start to her shift.

You might, therefore, see her pop into a Tesco express or similar between clients (she has no actual lunch break).

I really saddens me to think someone like the OP might make such cynical assumptions about the reasons why she is in uniform.

From an infection control point of view, it is obviously not ideal to wear uniform when out or when visiting various homes. But not everyone has a single place of work, multiple sets of uniform or time (or a place) between calls to keep getting changed. I cannot imagine using a client's bathroom as a changing facility would be considered appropriate.

However, these points are an entirely separate issue, unrelated to the assumption the OP is making about attention seeking behaviours of carers.

Of course they are all out for attention, flaunting themselves everywhere. WTF?

There are many who work in the community do you expect them to change after every home they visit when they often don't even have travel time in their schedule? They have to get to the next home asap. Shopping for service users is very common as well.

Yes, I agree Perfect! Good point about the shopping for service users.

I'm a nurse and I absolutely hate to see this. They should not be wearing their uniforms unless they are community nurses and you will never know this. A community nurse would struggle to do her job if she had to keep taking her uniform on and off but they are wearing PPE which of course they remove. However shopping in their uniform is not on and they should be doing that at other times.

I've a few elderly neighbours who have carers in and out they are practically dancing up the street bringing attention to themselves

I expect they flaunt themselves during their shifts too. That will be why some have been working without PPE, not because there wasn't enough but so they could be more clearly seen for selfies and adoration and LOLs.

I expect the stampede of NHS workers changing their name by deed poll from Jo Bloggs to Jo NHS Blogs is so they can flaunt themselves online too.

It's a good job there's people like you, OP, and some of the PPs who can see through their vanity.

I expect all those young, previously healthy HCPs who died from COVID won't get to flaunt themselves anymore.

I trained as a nurse in the 80s. It was absolutely forbidden then and right up until I left for us to wear our uniforms in public. We either had to change at work(in the staff toilets, no changing rooms) or wear a knee length coat that covered the uniform fully.

@RedHelenB

Those in contact with COVID19 patients will have protocols on uniform.a district nurse or midwife has to wear their uniform out and about. Get a grip and gripe about something else!

This!

When my dad had home Carers, they would sometimes pop to a very local shop if there was something we’d forgotten with his shopping.

Stop looking for things to complain about

@Mrsjayy

Carers who work in the community have a lot of houses to visit do you expect them to change every time they go from house to blooming house these people are out doing their best in shitty times leave them alone get on with your own shopping and business.

District nurses always used to have to wear long coats - navy blue, uniform issue.

I am a health care worker and am not allowed to wear uniform outside of work but i have friends who are community carers and district nurses so obviously they wear them out

Your comment about them wanting the plaudits is quite disgusting. While it uniforms MAY present a potential infection control hazard, it is likely that they will have been protected by gloves and aprons, if not full PPE at work. And few care delivery facilities, be they nursing homes or hospitals, have dedicated changing facilities. Would you want to get changed in a toilet? I doubt that very much. Are you one of those that is seen to be doing the 'clapping' yet is happy to shoot carers down in flames when they don't conform to your narrative? Let's hope you don't get a serious illness

Could be a nurse about to start their shift and popped in for lunch?

Example 1 my mum is an icu nurse. She wears uniform to work and changes into scrubs, then back into uniform to leave.

example 2 my sister in law is 32 weeks pregnant and a nurse. You would see her in her uniform. However she is office bound and in contact with noone. Due to being pregnant.

You just want to moan i see the NHS love is gone

provides a visual identifier that they are one of the people to be clapped or whatever.

Whereas posts like this provide a visual identifier of complete wankery.

Feels a bit like you’re dry snitching, GinDaddy.

We change pre and post shifts - nurse in hospital. However we have ccn’s who access the ward who do home visits in their uniforms but wear ppe whilst doing so but you wouldn’t know if they were ward or community nurses if you saw them in Tesco as nhs Scotland all wear the same uniform. The community nurses I know wouldn’t shop in their uniforms, I think it’s sad that people are making judgments like us being show offs etc wanting adoration and public gratitude by wearing a uniform out and about.

Perhaps there are some care workers who do none I know, I don’t need clapped for doing the job I was trained for or working through covid in a ward where we have had to juggle the way we do things, split staff up and work with less staff I’m not looking for praise but if you want to judge nurses come do a day in the heat on your feet wrapped in ppe it’s completely exhausting& draining bit carry on judging a whole profession by one or two people in who have most likely popped to a shop in their lunch break or after work whilst working in the community and who are not guilty of what you’re accusing them of op

Community staff wear their uniform in............the community.

Could they be strip-o-grams on their way to a job?

[quote cardibach]@Spidey66 I suggested it was the start of their day not the end.[/quote]
Sorry....brain not in gear.

Still, the only nurses or carers seen out in uniform should be community nurses or home carers going between visits.I would expect them to go to base at the start of the shift to change into uniform/handover/collect meds and PPE then at the end of the day to write up notes, when they can change back. I'm a CPN and during lockdown was going into patients homes daily to administer injections and we wore essentially scrubs(don't normally wear uniform) and this is how we did it.

I'm a GP and we are all wearing scrubs to work at the moment. I take clothes to change into when I leave. However, the vast majority of my patient contact is via telephone, so quite often I won't actually see a patient all day. On those occasions I don't change out of my scrubs, because there is no need and frankly I can't be bothered.
I have no desire to boast about my job. In fact on the rare occasions I stop to get petrol on the way home I always worried that people will assume I'm contaminated.

Moonmelodies This thread is so depressing, thanks for the laugh.

Here we have the flipside of the deifying of the NHS/care workers which the media led. Whaddya know, it's time to tear them down again, in true British style. Of course they're just flaunting themselves for attention. Well done, Gindaddy, for leading the charge, on yet another thread.

First, it's a good idea to assume that anybody - including their clothes - can be a source of infection. Anybody at all, no matter what they are wearing.

Secondly, even if we assume the OP is right, that these is are heathcare workers flagrantly ATTENTION-SEEKING (the ultimate MN crime) for their work during, uh, a global pandemic, well, I'm totally fine with that, TBH.

Years ago nurses were not allowed to wear their uniform out of work , many chefs etc still aren't in some places

@Jaxhog

I wonder about this too. When I worked as a nurse many years ago, wearing your uniform outside the hospital was strictly forbidden on hygiene grounds. We kept our day clothes in a locker. Not sure when this changed.

When I worked in the catering side of the hospital we also had this rule. You could get fired if you wore it outside of the hospital. Again for hygiene reasons and infection control.

Our Domiciliary care staff have all recently been issued with scrubs - before this they all worse their own clothes. They don’t just wear the scrubs when actively working - they cover the scrubs up with gowns and aprons and visors and everything else. All that PPE is removed after the visit. They just have scrubs under it so they can hot wash them. Can’t imagine we are the only area where more Dom. Care staff have suddenly been issued uniforms; that being the case it’s not unreasonable that you’ll see more of them out and about.

Now if they were shopping in used gowns and visors visibly splattered, You might have a gripe. But just scrubs/uniforms, nope.