Changes to clinician attire have done more harm than good

Area of Science:

• Medical practice and patient safety
• Healthcare-associated infections
• Clinical communication

Background:

• 'Bare below the elbows' policies have replaced white coats in many clinical settings to improve hand hygiene.
• This change has coincided with a decrease in certain hospital-acquired infections.

Purpose of the Study:

• To debate the impact of clinician attire changes on infection control and the doctor-patient relationship.
• To assess if infection control benefits outweigh potential harms to clinical interactions.

Main Methods:

• Review of existing literature and ongoing debate on clinician dress codes.
• Analysis of trends in healthcare-acquired infections and patient complaints.

Main Results:

• Healthcare-acquired infections like Clostridium difficile have decreased.
• Complaints against clinicians and perceived lack of respect for medical staff are reportedly increasing.

Conclusions:

• The direct causal link between white coat removal and infection control improvements remains debated.
• Potential negative impacts on the doctor-patient relationship due to the loss of the white coat warrant further investigation.