Long- and short-sleeved physician workwear receive same amount of bacterial and MRSA contamination
Thursday, February 10, 2011 - 07:30
in Health & Medicine
Governmental agencies in the United Kingdom recently instituted guidelines banning physicians' white coats and the wearing of long-sleeved garments to decrease the transmission of bacteria within hospitals due to the belief that cuffs of long-sleeved shirts carry more bacteria. However, a new study published today in the Journal of Hospital Medicine shows that after an eight-hour day, there is no difference in contamination of long- and short-sleeved shirts, or on the skin at the wearers' wrists.