? ?
WORLD / Health
UK hospitals issue doctors' dress code
(AP)
Updated: 2007-09-18 09:54
LONDON - British hospitals are banning neckties, long sleeves and jewelry
for doctors?- and their traditional white coats?- in an effort to stop
the spread of deadly hospital-borne infections, according to new rules
published Monday.
In the undated photograph released by West Middlesex University Hospital
in England on Monday Sept. 17, 2007, junior doctor Naomi Smith wears a
new uniform which could replace the traditional white coat as part of the
fight against hospital superbugs.?[Reuters]?
Hospital dress codes typically urge doctors to look professional, which,
for male practitioners, has usually meant wearing a tie. But as concern
over hospital-borne infections has intensified, doctors are taking a
closer look at their clothing.
"Ties are rarely laundered but worn daily," the Department of Health said
in a statement. "They perform no beneficial function in patient care and
have been shown to be colonized by pathogens."
The new regulations taking effect next year mean an end to doctors'
traditional long-sleeved white coats, Health Secretary Alan Johnson said.
Fake nails, jewelry and watches, which the department warned could harbor
germs, are also out.
Johnson said the "bare below the elbows" dress code would help prevent
the spread of Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA, the
deadly bacteria resistant to nearly every available antibiotic.
Popularly known as a "superbug," MRSA accounts for more than 40 percent
of in-hospital blood infections in Britain. Because the bacteria is so
hard to kill, health care workers have instead focused on containing its
spread through improvements to hospital hygiene.
A 2004 study of doctors' neckties at a New York hospital found nearly
half of them carried at least one species of infectious microbe. In 2006,
the British Medical Association urged doctors to go without the
accessories, calling them "functionless clothing items."
Infection control societies in the US don't recommend similar dress
restrictions because there is no strong evidence that health care workers
who don't wear ties or jewelry reduce the risk of infection, said Dr
James Steinberg, an Emory University infectious disease specialist.
Steinberg said that doctors and nurses who don't adequately wash their
hands pose a far bigger risk to patients and that hand-washing should be
the focus of infection control efforts in hospitals.
The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention does have
guidelines advising doctors and nurses against wearing artificial nails
in operating rooms and around high-risk patients. It says there is
evidence that health care workers who wear fake nails have more germs on
their fingertips both before and after hand-washing than those with
natural nails.
Top World News ?
* Musharraf plans to quit army for presidency
* Fukuda leads in opinion polls to be Japan's next PM
* Australian PM denies will retire before vote
* Black boxes found in Thai plane crash
* Iraq: Revenge sought in sheik's death
Today's Top News ?
* Party Constitution to be amended at congress
* China stocks hit record high
* High prices to 'persist' next year
* National theater ready for showtime
* Beijing: Prepared for grave situations
Most Commented/Read Stories in 48 Hours
Learning Materials, Mandarin audio lessons, Chinese writing lessons, Chinese vocabulary lists, About chinese characters, News in Chinese, Go to China, Travel to China, Study in China, Teach in China, Dictionaries, Learn Chinese Painting, Your name in Chinese, Chinese calligraphy, Chinese songs, Chinese proverbs, Chinese poetry, Chinese tattoo, Beijing 2008 Olympics, Mandarin Phrasebook, Chinese editor, Pinyin editor, China Travel, Travel to Beijing, Travel to Tibet
No comments:
Post a Comment