Having clean uniforms sets a professional tone for your company, regardless of the industry. However, due to the nature of work in the healthcare industry, it is even more important to have a clean uniform than any other industry such as retail, where there is less chance of contamination.
It is quite common to see nurses, medical technicians and other workers in the healthcare industry out in public in their scrubs or work uniform. They’re out grocery shopping, catching public transport or walking home. What you can’t see on their uniform is the amount of bacteria that could seriously harm the public. Although it may appear visibly clean, healthcare uniforms are great hosts to various bacteria and viruses.
A clean uniform has many definitions. Although most people perceive clean as having no stains on their uniform, is it truly clean it contains bacteria invisible to the naked eye? It is recommended that healthcare uniforms be washed in a minimum of 60 degree heat, for 10 minutes in order to kill most of the bacteria. However, most staff are unaware or were not provided with the correct uniform laundering guidelines and are returning to work the next day with uniforms still covered in bacteria.
Hospital acquired infections are on the rise. With healthcare workers wearing uniforms outside of clean, sterile environments, they are increasing the chance of contaminating other surfaces, causing more infections than necessary.
The risk of contamination can also affect the health of the worker and their families. Another study on nurses uniforms found that, when soiled uniforms were washed with other sterile items, a number of E-coli and Staphylococcus aureus bacteria survived, and contaminated the other items. This poses a large risk to the health of the workers’ families, as usually the uniforms are washed with the families laundry, resulting in all of the items in the laundry being contaminated.
Having a clean uniform can also increase patients’ confidence. When individuals arrive at a healthcare facility, such as a hospital or a rest home, they expect a clean and sterile environment, thus increasing their confidence that they will be well looked after for their medical procedures and needs. If the environment is messy or dirty, or the staff’s uniforms are not clean, patients feel uneasy and unsafe.
When you use a managed uniform rental service like Alsco, you can guarantee that all of your staff’s uniforms will be laundered to the highest standards, ensuring that your staff will always look their best with freshly washed, clean uniforms. Get in touch with us to organise your uniform needs today!