Gee, remember the good ol’ Ben Casey days, when doctors and hospital workers wore those funky collarless lab coats?
Doctors who wear ties during their hospital rounds in efforts to look professional for their patients could unwittingly spread disease-causing bacteria, says new research.
Researchers found that nearly half of the ties worn by medical workers harboured bacteria which could cause disease. Clinicians were eight times more likely to wear a tie carrying bacteria than by hospital security staff.
The researchers, at the New York Hospital Medical Centre of Queens led by Dr Steven Nurkin, looked at ties worn by doctors, their assistants and medical students at a teaching hospital in New York and compared them with ties worn by the hospital security staff.
Almost half the ties (47.6%) worn by clinicians were found to harbour potential disease-causing bacteria.
(via BoingBoing)
Neckties? I’m more concerned about those fancy shoes they wear – my doctor is a dapper fellow – forty years younger then me – who wears those expensive Italian loafers with the little tassels on them – along with a pinstriped suit and tie.
“DOC! Step outa those shiny shoes, and lose the socks, too! I don’t know WHERE they’ve been!” I can just see his face as he leaves his classy kicks behind and makes his rounds shoeless in his nice suit…
The only problem with barefoot doctors, though, is that you can’t hear them coming…