[Microbial contamination of cuffs lab coats during health care]

The study aimed to evaluate the bacterial contamination in lab coats worn by nursing students, before and after being worn in health care practices. A quantitative and descriptive study was carried out, in which the students' coats were collected, washed and ironed in a standardized way and wore for four hours in assistance activities. Subsequently, samples from the cuffs were collected with sterile cotton swabs in order to be incubated in order to analyze microbial growth through morphological analysis by Gram's Method and antibiogram. There was bacterial growth of Staphylococcus aureus and Staphylococcus epidermidis in 50% of the collected samples and Staphylococcus aureus, found in patients with wounds in outpatient care, showed resistance to antibiotics such as Vancomycin, Chloramphenicol and Sulfonamides. The data demonstrated that the lab coats wore during assistance activities, even in short periods, are effectively contaminated by strains resistant to antibiotics and can potentially cause infection related to health care.