Is the UK forbidding white coats?
The BBC has just reported that in the name of infection control, the government have suggested? indicated? dictated? that doctors will no longer wear white coats.Imagine that!
Apparently it is because long sleeves do not enable proper hand washing.
Presumably it is not possible to make white coats with short or 3/4 length sleeves.
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{ 7 comments }
I’ve always rolled my sleeves up to 3/4 length (my preference, also sleeves were always too long for me).
I have 7 white coats hanging in my closet. 6 of them are short-sleeved.
No matter. Now that everyone thinks they need to present themselves to the patient in a white coat I’ve long since taken to differentiating myself from the longcoatcrowd by merely wearing a shirt, tie and slacks.
I don’t need the white coat because I’m the only one not trying to pass myself off as something other than what I really am.
I cut mine a little shorter at the sleeve than one might for a business suit, for that very reason of washing your hands.
The sleeves not only impede hand-washing, they themselves carry bacteria which are transferable.
I propose that doctors should start wearing long red or blue coats to distinguish themselves from all the pretenders who want to “play doctor” by trying to wear hte white coats.
Hell even RNs and janitors wear long white coats in hospitals these days!
But everybody knows that if doctors switched to gray/blue coats, it would be a matter of months before the hospital hordes switched over to copy us. YOu see, its not about professionalism, or looking good, or keeping clean, or keeping body fluids off of you, its about trying to pass yourself off as a doctor by looking like one.
Thats all this BS is about, nothing more.
In the average UK hospital you wouldn’t notice if they were banned as I’ve only ever seen one rather elderly doctor wearing one on the wards. Nor do the medical students wear them either.
They are heavy, make you too warm and drag across the patient. The only useful thing is the pockets.
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