Wearing Gloves When Taking Vital Signs?

Sorry that should be "wear"

LOL! Exactly.

I don't agree with any part of your statement above and I also do not believe you actually do know the role of PPE. It was initially developed to protect the patients from other patient's blood or body fluids that might be on the nurses hands after seeing other patients. This was back before handwashing became a routine. Now it has developed more into the role of protecting the healthcare worker from the patient, but it still serves a dual purpose.

I don't usually wear gloves to take vitals in the ER, but I do sometimes if the situation presents itself. I welcome anyone who comes at me with clean gloves on as well. I'd rather be safe than sorry.

If I have to take their vitals or touch them I would. In fact sometimes I wish I did have some gloves and a mask with me for times like that.

Before I was an ER nurse...
I took vitals at a clinic on a patient who had the WORST case of scabies any of us had ever seen. Of course, he was wearing long sleeves and pants and didn't tell anyone about his rash when he signed in.

And when I wrapped that BP cuff around his arm and took his pulse, guess what else I took home with me and gave to my (current) boyfriend?

I wear gloves. Permethrin costs $40 a tube, and you feel mildly poisoned afterwards. Gloves are cheap - in fact, they're provided for my safety.

I go with gloves now.

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As a patient and as someone considering nursing as a career I think you should always were gloves when having contact with a patient especially in an emergency situation!!! Why would you want to catch or transfer something that could have been easily prevented by simply putting on gloves.
[/color][/font][/quote] Agree, but I've seen people go from patient to patient with the same gloves on. Almost had to snatch the lab techs hand one time when he drew blood on one guy, then went to draw blood on my son without changing gloves grrrrrr

Okay, I work in a large ER and I also work PRN in a rehab hospital. I will say that many times when I go in to do a simple assessment on a patient, especially at the rehab hospital, I don't necessarily wear gloves. They're always bedside, for me, and if I encounter a situation where I may need them, I am quick to put them on. Oh, and just because someone doesn't have gloves on doesn't mean they don't take the time to wash their hands. That's an unfair assumption.

I have worked in a few places such as Emergency Dept, Short stay surg, nursing home, and I have never seen a nurse wear gloves for vital signs except for if the patient is on Additional precautions (MRSA, scabies, C diff.) We are very strict on washing hands here though. At the short stay surg ward, there are pump bottles of alcohol gel at the end of every bed and at every sink, which we use after every patient contact. And we will wash with soap and water when taking gloves off or every few alcohol washes.

I take the point about not knowing what the patient has. We usually look at their file and guess who might need additional precautions however you can't always know. In the ED, there was an Aboriginal patient from the outback who was put under Additional precautions just for being suspected of having scabies. No real reason for suspecting except the community she lived in. Likewise anyone with gastro, we take precautions before the tests come back.

By the way, when i say Additional precautions, I am referring to the "sign on the door, don't go in without a gown and gloves and everything in the room is cleaned before moving the next pt in" kind of setup, not just gloves.

I don't wear gloves on routine vitals but definitely wash my hands at least a hundred times a day :-)

I think it's just the healthcare person's preference...some are a little more paranoid than others. Now if there is a potential for fluid exposure of any kind, it would be irresponsible not to wear gloves.

R/T scabies...I took care of hundreds of scabies cases in Honduras and we did not wear gloves on each patient (just didn't have enough) but washed our hands either with soap and water or Previcare...not one team member contracted scabies or lice...just FYI.

If you have intact skin, handwashing immediately after patient contact will get rid of any cooties. I worked infectious diseases in the era before gloves were readily available, and wasn't out sick during those years. I did get a few colds, but without full PPE for every patient I think thats to be expected.

If I worked in a riskier ER the gross out factor alone could prompt me to wear gloves for every patient contact just in case. So far I glove for poop and anything with blood or sputum, and pericare. (Yes I glove for procedures, but that goes without saying right?). I would be offended if someone insisted I glove for everything- you still have to wash your hands anyway! If a healthcare worker gloved to care for me it wouldn't be offensive, just unnecessary. Whatever makes them feel comfortable enough to do the job is fine with me.