Training Healthcare Workers on Cleaning Medical Uniforms: A Guide for Employers

It seems pretty simple: toss medical scrubs and cleanroom garments into the washing machine

with hot water and bleach, let the cycle run its course, and done, right? Not quite. Properly

cleaning medical wear requires a bit more effort.

While most microbes are our friends, others are our foes. It is from the foes that healthcare

workers must protect themselves and their patients. Pathogenic microbes can and do make their

way onto the uniforms of healthcare professionals in the course of their work with patients.

Healthcare Associated Infections by the Numbers

Healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) are still an enormous problem, even in the developed

world. A large scale study of U.S. acute care hospitals by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC)

found that there were an estimated 722,000 HAIs in U.S. acute care hospitals in 2011, and that

on any given day about 1 in 25 hospital patients had at least one hospital-associated infection.1

Worldwide, hundreds of millions of people are affected every year by HAIs, according to the

World Health Organization (WHO). While the prevalence is higher in the developing world,

industrialized nations don’t trail far behind. A fact sheet by the WHO reports that “of every 100

hospitalized patients at any given time, 7 in developed and 10 in developing countries will

acquire at least one health care-associated infection.”2

Training Is Lacking When It Comes to Proper Uniform Laundering

The “National Consumer Survey and Business-to-Business Survey of Uniform and Textile

Rental Decision Makers” conducted by opinion research and consulting firm Fabrizio Ward on

behalf of TRSA questioned healthcare business decision makers about their employee training

policies regarding proper cleaning of uniforms.

Respondents reported that 44% of employees were responsible for laundering their own

uniforms. Of these employees, 45% had no training, 14% had undergone a training session, and

41% were given a document providing instructions on cleaning uniforms.

Not surprisingly, many consumers are concerned when they see healthcare workers wearing

scrubs outside of a medical facility. The Fabrizio Ward survey showed that 42% of consumers

surveyed said they were “somewhat concerned” about seeing a person wearing scrubs outside of

a medical facility, and 25% said they were “very concerned.”

Providing healthcare employees with lockers and a room where they can change into and out of

their scrubs can help alleviate these concerns and prevent the transfer of pathogens.

Teaching Healthcare Employees Best Practices

With resistant bacteria like methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) on the rise, it’s

clear that sterilization of equipment and uniforms worn by healthcare professionals is of

paramount importance in preventing infections. Following is a step-by-step guide that healthcare

facilities can use to train healthcare employees on cleaning uniforms properly.

1. Don’t wear scrubs to or from work: Scrubs can pick up dust, allergens, and harmful

microbes to and from work. Employees should seal freshly washed scrubs in a zippered

freezer bag and change into them on arrival at work. After work, employees should

change back into their street clothes, and seal their worn scrubs into the same zippered

freezer bag. This will help the employee prevent carrying any pathogens to or from work.

Employees should keep two laundry baskets—one for their work uniform, and one for

their other clothes.

2. Wash scrubs separately from other clothes: Separating scrubs from other clothes can

help prevent the spread of harmful microbes. Also, the bleach used to wash scrubs (more

on that below) could damage non-work clothes—another reason to wash clothes

separately.

3. Wash scrubs twice: The first wash should be in cold or warm water with regular

detergent. This will help loosen stains, dirt, dust, and debris from the material and help

remove tough stains in the second wash. The second wash should use hot water, bleach,

and a stronger detergent. This will clean out stubborn stains from blood, mucous, and

other fluids with which the employee may have come into contact. It will also help

remove microbes from the uniform. Soaking the garment in hot water before the first

wash may also be necessary for exceptionally soiled scrubs. Scrubs should be dried on a

high heat setting that will kill additional microbes.

These best practices will help reduce the spread of infections that result in thousands of illnesses

and deaths every year, as well as enormous additional healthcare costs.