'Clean' and dirty white coats equally dirty
Hospitalist Leadership Connection, February 22, 2011
After an eight-hour work day, a freshly laundered white coat has the same amount of bacteria as a white coat that hasn’t been laundered, according to a new study published in the February electronic edition of the Journal of Hospital Medicine.
Researchers at the University of Colorado in Denver tested for bacterial and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus contamination on hospitalists’ short-sleeved white coats. They found that there was no statistical difference in bacterial contamination between “clean” and dirty coats after a full work day.
“Colony counts of newly laundered uniforms were essentially zero, but after 3 hours of wear they were nearly 50% of those counted at 8 hours,” states the study. “…Our data do not support discarding long-sleeved white coats for short-sleeved uniforms that are changed on a daily basis.”
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