Why your doctor's white coat can be a threat to your health.

Nicholas Haun; Christopher Hooper-Lane; Nasia Safdar

Newspaper/Magazine Article

Why your doctor's white coat can be a threat to your health.

May 8, 2019

Haun N, Hooper-Lane C, Safdar N. Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol. 2016;37(11):1367-1373.

View more articles from the same authors.

Health care providers are a known source of potentially harmful bacteria due to their perpetual interaction with germs during practice. This newspaper article reports on how clinician attire, stethoscopes, and technology can be contaminated with bacteria. Hand sanitizer placement, sleeve length, and laundering behaviors can reduce transmission of pathogens.

Free full text

Related review

Related Resources From the Same Author(s)

Prevalence, risk factors, and outcomes of idle intravenous catheters: an integrative review.

August 3, 2016

Health care worker perspectives of their motivation to reduce health care–associated infections.

September 6, 2017

Exploring leadership within a systems approach to reduce health care–associated infections: a scoping review of one work system model.

April 17, 2019

Assessment of fidelity in interventions to improve hand hygiene of healthcare workers: a systematic review.

March 16, 2016

Barriers and facilitators to injection safety in ambulatory care settings.

August 29, 2018

Developing open disclosure strategies to medical error using simulation in final-year medical students: linking mindset and experiential learning to lifelong reflective practice.

March 31, 2021

Evaluation of the association between Hospital Survey on Patient Safety Culture (HSOPS) measures and catheter-associated infections: results of two national collaboratives.

June 22, 2016

Race, ethnicity, and 60-day outcomes after hospitalization with COVID-19.

November 17, 2021

Streamlining care in crisis: rapid creation and implementation of a digital support tool for COVID-19.

October 21, 2020

Junior doctors' views on reporting concerns about patient safety: a qualitative study.

June 17, 2015

Effects of skilled nursing facility structure and process factors on medication errors during nursing home admission.

November 5, 2014

Comparative safety of endovascular aortic aneurysm repair over open repair using Patient Safety Indicators during adoption.

July 23, 2014

Patient experience must move beyond bad apples.

October 12, 2016

Peer review of medical practices: missed opportunities to learn.

January 28, 2015

An overlooked condition.

November 30, 2005

Complication rates, hospital size, and bias in the CMS Hospital-Acquired Condition Reduction Program.

January 25, 2017

Nurse aides' ratings of the resident safety culture in nursing homes.

September 27, 2006

Hospital process compliance and surgical outcomes in Medicare beneficiaries.

October 27, 2010

Applying hierarchical task analysis to medication administration errors.

October 19, 2005

Effectiveness of a 'Do not interrupt' bundled intervention to reduce interruptions during medication administration: a cluster randomised controlled feasibility study.

March 15, 2017

Nurse well-being: a concept analysis.

August 17, 2022

Safe use of the EHR by medical scribes: a qualitative study.

November 18, 2020

Organisational crisis resource management: leading an academic department of emergency medicine through the COVID-19 pandemic.

October 7, 2020

Effect of Patient and Family Centered I-PASS on adverse event rates in hospitalized children with complex chronic conditions.

March 8, 2023

Nosocomial infection, the Deficit Reduction Act, and incentives for hospitals.

October 8, 2008

How providers can optimize effective and safe scribe use: a qualitative study.

February 1, 2023

Association of hospital participation in a quality reporting program with surgical outcomes and expenditures for Medicare beneficiaries.

February 18, 2015

Association of adverse effects of medical treatment with mortality in the United States: a secondary analysis of the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors study.

January 30, 2019

Hospital autopsy: endangered or extinct?

July 8, 2015

Assumptions of quality medicine: the role of uncertainty.

June 14, 2017

Hospital- and system-wide interventions for health care-associated infections: a systematic review.

September 16, 2020

The coronavirus and the risks to the elderly in long-term care.

May 6, 2020

Priorities for pediatric patient safety research.

February 13, 2019

Improving patient safety in radiology: concepts for a comprehensive patient safety program.

May 12, 2010

Improving patient safety: effects of a safety program on performance and culture in a department of radiology.

July 29, 2009

Serious experience events: applying patient safety concepts to improve patient experience.

July 6, 2022

The application of the Global Trigger Tool: a systematic review.

October 26, 2016

Incorporation of quality and safety principles in maintenance of certification: a qualitative analysis of American Board of Medical Specialties member boards.

September 12, 2018

So many ways to be wrong: completeness and accuracy in a prospective study of OR-to-ICU handoff standardization.

July 5, 2023

Scaling the EQUIPPED medication safety program: traditional and hub-and-spoke implementation models.

March 6, 2024

Use of HIT for adverse event reporting in nursing homes: barriers and facilitators.

January 23, 2013

Systemic failures in nursing home care--a scoping study.

February 14, 2024

Bracing for the storm: one health care system's planning for the COVID-19 surge.

November 11, 2020

Interprofessional training and communication practices among clinicians in the postoperative ICU handoff.

April 28, 2021

Preventing surgical site infections: are safety climate level and its strength associated with self-reported commitment to, subjective norms toward, and knowledge about preventive measures?

June 14, 2023

What are we missing? The quality of intraoperative handover before and after introduction of a checklist.

April 6, 2022

Junior doctors and patient safety: evaluating knowledge, attitudes and perception of safety climate.

September 5, 2012

Relationship between nursing home safety culture and Joint Commission accreditation.

May 2, 2012

What interventions could reduce diagnostic error in emergency departments? A review of evidence, practice and consumer perspectives.

July 24, 2019

Indication documentation and indication-based prescribing within electronic prescribing systems: a systematic review and narrative synthesis.

April 5, 2023

Using smart IV infusion pumps outside of patient rooms.

February 2, 2022

Standardised proformas improve patient handover: audit of trauma handover practice.

October 22, 2008

Nursing home administrators' opinions of the resident safety culture in nursing homes.

February 7, 2007

Rural emergency medical services clinicians' perceptions and preferences in receiving clinical feedback from hospitals: a qualitative needs assessment.

April 10, 2024

Association of cataract surgical outcomes with late surgeon career stages: a population-based cohort study.

October 24, 2018

ICU attending handoff practices: results from a national survey of academic intensivists.

December 9, 2015

Impact of pharmacist previsit input to providers on chronic opioid prescribing safety.

March 14, 2018

How well is quality improvement described in the perioperative care literature? A systematic review.

May 4, 2016

Utilizing pharmacy students in transitions-of-care services.

September 9, 2015

Hand hygiene deficiency citations in nursing homes.

September 26, 2012

Bedside shift reports: what does the evidence say?

September 24, 2014

Adverse events following an emergency department visit.

February 28, 2007

What every graduating resident needs to know about quality improvement and patient safety: a content analysis of 26 sets of ACGME milestones.

July 18, 2018

Healthcare worker serious safety events: applying concepts from patient safety to improve healthcare worker safety.

August 4, 2021

Operational rounds: a practical administrative process to improve safety and clinical services in radiology.

November 26, 2008

'Corridor care' in the emergency department: managing patient care in non-clinical areas safely and efficiently.

December 6, 2023

Safety culture of nursing homes: opinions of top managers.

April 6, 2011

Does clinical supervision of health professionals improve patient safety? A systematic review and meta-analysis.

June 29, 2016

Reducing the incidence of retained surgical instrument fragments.

September 14, 2011

Impact of medication reviews on potentially inappropriate medications and associated costs among older women in aged care.

September 21, 2022

Technological distractions—part 1 and part 2.

February 14, 2018

Medication errors: an overview for clinicians.

September 17, 2014

Building a simulation-based crisis resource management course for emergency medicine, phase 1: results from an interdisciplinary needs assessment survey.

August 6, 2008

On the prospects for a blame-free medical culture.

November 4, 2009

Interventions to improve hand hygiene compliance in patient care.

September 1, 2017

An observational study of the frequency, severity, and etiology of failures in postoperative care after major elective general surgery.

October 24, 2012

Measuring administrators' and direct care workers' perceptions of the safety culture in assisted living facilities.

August 1, 2012

Association of emotional intelligence with malpractice claims: a review.

February 13, 2019

Nursing resources and patient outcomes in intensive care: a systematic review of the literature.

November 14, 2007

Effort in human factors performance and decision making.

January 21, 2015

Communication about medical errors.

February 24, 2021

The safety of inpatient pediatrics: preventing medical errors and injuries among hospitalized children.

August 10, 2005

Peer feedback, learning, and improvement: answering the call of the Institute of Medicine report on diagnostic error.

December 7, 2016

Investigating teamwork in the operating room: engaging stakeholders and setting the agenda.

October 19, 2016

The Anesthesia Patient Safety Foundation Stoelting Conference 2019: perioperative deterioration--early recognition, rapid intervention, and the end of failure-to-rescue.

November 11, 2020

Anesthesiology patient handoff education interventions: a systematic review.

March 29, 2023

Assessing resident safety culture in nursing homes: using the nursing home survey on resident safety.

December 2, 2009

The Ask Me to Explain campaign: a 90-day intervention to promote patient and family involvement in care in a pediatric emergency department.

June 1, 2016

Is hand hygiene before putting on nonsterile gloves in the intensive care unit a waste of health care worker time? A randomized controlled trial.

September 4, 2013

We will not compete on safety: how children's hospitals have come together to hasten harm reduction.

June 27, 2018

Nursing home patient safety culture perceptions among US and immigrant nurses.

January 24, 2018

Exploring safety systems for dispensing in community pharmacies: focusing on how staff relate to organizational components.

September 17, 2014

An estimate of missed pediatric sepsis in the emergency department.

June 2, 2021

Supporting clinicians after adverse events: development of a clinician peer support program.

September 5, 2018

Pediatric medication errors in the postanesthesia care unit: analysis of MEDMARX data.

May 2, 2007

Necessity of a good surgical history: detection of a gossypiboma.

July 17, 2013

The ‘new view’ of human error. Origins, ambiguities, successes and critiques.

September 14, 2022

Evaluating the effect of distractions in the operating room on clinical decision-making and patient safety.

December 21, 2016

Perioperative safety: learning, not taking, from aviation.

July 27, 2016

Governing board, C-suite, and clinical management perceptions of quality and safety structures, processes, and priorities in US hospitals.

May 7, 2014

Related Resources

National Healthcare Quality and Disparities Reports.

January 9, 2024

National and State Healthcare-Associated Infections Progress Report.

November 30, 2023

Staying safe while getting well.

August 16, 2023

Families’ experiences of central-line infection in children: a qualitative study.

September 7, 2022

Algorithm that detects sepsis cut deaths by nearly 20 percent.

August 24, 2022

How to seek care for non-covid health issues during the pandemic, and why you shouldn’t delay.

September 29, 2021

Accidental exposures to fentanyl patches continue to be deadly to children.

July 21, 2021

Patient and family engagement in catheter-associated urinary tract infection (CAUTI) prevention: a systematic review.

July 14, 2021

Patient Safety Recommendations for COVID-19 Epidemic Outbreak: 3.0

January 29, 2021

Covid-19 surge could lead to another drop in patient visits, doctors fear—and more missed pediatric cancers.

December 23, 2020

The risks of the prescribing cascade.

September 16, 2020

New U.S. health crisis looms as patients without COVID-19 delay care.

July 29, 2020

Dramatic drop in cancer diagnoses amid COVID pandemic is cause for concern, doctors say.

May 27, 2020

People with disabilities fear pandemic will worsen medical biases.

April 29, 2020

Inside the epidemic of misdiagnosed women.

April 29, 2020

10 Medication Safety Tips for Hospitalized Patients.

September 25, 2019

Making infection prevention and control everyone's business? Hospital staff views on patient involvement.

June 5, 2019

Avoidable sepsis infections send thousands of seniors to gruesome deaths.

September 19, 2018

Tackling ambulatory safety risks through patient engagement: what 10,000 patients and families say about safety-related knowledge, behaviors, and attitudes after reading visit notes.

June 6, 2018

Medical misdiagnosis: more common than you think.

November 15, 2017

RxAwareness.

October 25, 2017

Severe hyperglycemia in patients incorrectly using insulin pens at home.

October 25, 2017

Day passes for vulnerable patients of psychiatric hospitals can have dangerous, even fatal consequences.

June 21, 2017

A boy's life is lost to sepsis. Thousands are saved in his wake.

April 26, 2017

Zero tolerance for deadly hospital-acquired infections.

December 7, 2016

Hospitals installed more sinks to stop infections. The sinks can make the problem worse.

November 9, 2016

Surviving a bad diagnosis.

September 28, 2016

'Superbug' scourge spreads as U.S. fails to track rising human toll.

September 21, 2016

Making health care safer. Think sepsis. Time matters.

September 7, 2016

Indiana Patient Safety Center.

August 17, 2016

See More About The Topic

Why your doctor's white coat can be a threat to your health.

Connect With Us

Sign up for Email Updates

Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality

Why your doctor's white coat can be a threat to your health.

Connect With Us

Sign up for Email Updates

Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality

Submit Your Innovations

Continue as a Guest

Continue Logged In

Submit Your Innovations

Continue as a Guest

Continue logged in

New Users to the PSNet site