Home laundering of soiled surgical scrubs: Surgical site infections and the home environment

An increasing number of hospitals have implemented programs that permit the ir operating room (OR) personnel to launder their soiled "scrubs" at home. Not only have they not experienced an increase in the incidence of surgical site infections (SSTs), but they have also found the policy to be financia lly rewarding. Whereas the Association of periOperative Registered Nurses ( AORN) opposes the practice, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) describes it as an unresolved issue. The variances in the positions t aken by these two organizations obviously accounts for the differences in p ositions taken by the infection control community. In the absence of any ev idence in the literature, the only alternative is to draw from knowledge an d experience to determine whether the practice can be considered clinically effective and does not have a harmful effect on the home environment. On t he basis of the results of that examination, it is concluded that the need for having soiled scrubs laundered by a facility-approved laundry is indefe nsible and simply predicated on the "that's the way we've always done it" s yndrome.