To ask for recommendations for healthcare footwear.

[metheot]

I have recently qualified in an Allied Health Profession and my first role in non uniformed in the community about to start soon. I am really struggling with footwear. They mustn't be open toed or canvas. Can anyone recommend a good pair of practical shoes?

Will you be on your feet all day or will you be up and down driving between clients, or something in between? What sort of homes will you be going into? Do you need to be able to disinfectant them (if you're likely to be going into homes where the people are unable to care for their home or if you are likely to be dealing with bodily fluids regularly) or do they just need to be covered (to prevent needle stick injury) and comfortable?

I think the answers to the above will change what the right choice is.

As a commuinity physio, we generally wear plain ish dark coloured trainers. So still look semi smart, but practical and comfortable. My go to are the elasticated pull on skechers, many homes I go I to want you to remove shoes for cultural reasons, and I'm too busy to faff with doing up and undoing laces

I was recently visiting hospital and every staff member that passed me was wearing either trainers or a version of clogs.

This. I work in care though I’ve never had bodily fluids on my shoes, it’s possible! If you’re just after a bog standard pair of comfy shoes or trainers, a lot of people in care homes/domicillary care (like me) wear skechers, that said I find they don’t seem to last too long support wise. I started with foot problems (plantar fasciitis) due to being on my feet all day and bought some Hoka trainers. They’re expensive but have been amazing, my podiatrist didn’t recommend them to me but said a lot of people with foot issues wear them. I rarely have achy feet by the end of a shift which is a bonus!

Virtually all the team of community team I work with wear trainers.

@Ineffable23 I will be driving between visits. Won't usually need to deal with bodily fluids unless there is an accident but likely that some of the homes I go into will have poor hygiene.

A lot of Community Nurses seem to wear these shoes:

https://www.clarks.com/en-gb/un-loop/20312837-p

I reckon plain, dark trainers without obvious branding or something flat and leather like the above will be fine then?

Trainers which you can shove in the washing machine in case of an emergency may be safest, but doesn't sound like you're into specialist territory (e.g. I know some people like crocs [which you can get black filled in ones that aren't too croc like] because they can be hosed down/totally disinfected).

Honestly - non uniformed community... just wear whatever really. Sketchers are pretty universal (I currently have a pair of black pull on ones) but I'll admit that I wear sandals and the like as well (all our team do). You tend to get a feeling for which homes you're likely to go into that might be a bit iffier from the referrals and previous notes - lots of my caseload is actually small and medium care homes which are generally absolutely immaculate inside.

Would leather shoes be suitable? And if so, do they have to be a certain colour? Camper are having a 50% sale off for friends and family (you go to the website and sign up) so you can get a pair of their Peu shoes for around 60-80. (Their EU website has better colours and prices). And Amazon sometimes have them for cheap too, but only in pretty random colours like yellow or pink. If you buy directly off camper they have a 2 year warranty that they do stand by, I just returned a year-old pair that developed a hole in sole.

My b7 supervisor favoured silver sparkly trainers incidentally and half our clinical leads run around in various colours of converse in our team.