[begalli]

Originally Posted by lisal11

I worked in a LTC (as a social worker, not a nurse) and that home had a fiercely enforced policy about gloves. The CNA was not allowed to don gloves until ready for patient care and had to take them off immediately after patient care. Any CNA caught "traveling" with gloves on was instantly written up even if they just forgot to remove them before leaving a patient room.

I like this and I think it should be applied everywhere in every LTC and hospital for every single person, no matter who they are.

What drives me nuts is when I see a transport person pushing a patient down a hallway in the hospital wearing gloves!!?!!

[leeae85]

speaking of the elderly of having HIV/AIDS, i did a paper on that last semester in class about how the elderly are becoming increasingly affected w/ that disease, and how often it goes un-dx! (i'm sure a lot has to deal with Viagra!)

[leeae85]

Originally Posted by lisal11

I worked in a LTC (as a social worker, not a nurse) and that home had a fiercely enforced policy about gloves. The CNA was not allowed to don gloves until ready for patient care and had to take them off immediately after patient care. Any CNA caught "traveling" with gloves on was instantly written up even if they just forgot to remove them before leaving a patient room.

the first semester of nursing school when we were doing clinicals in the nursing home, my resident was in his gerichair in the hallway by the nsg. desk while i was charting, and he started to throw up a little, so i grabbed a pair of gloves off the side of the med cart and some napkins and went over to help him, and my teacher jumped s*** about me having gloves on in the hallway! I know that it is against DHEC regulations to have gloves on in the hallway, but i was like, "HELLO! Body fluids!?! I completely ignored her the whole time and helped him. After that, i mentioned it to my advisor (the other nsg. instructor), and she said i did the right thing. sometimes people cant "bend the rules a little"!

[twinmommy+1]

Originally Posted by leeae85

speaking of the elderly of having HIV/AIDS, i did a paper on that last semester in class about how the elderly are becoming increasingly affected w/ that disease, and how often it goes un-dx! (i'm sure a lot has to deal with Viagra!)

Alot of people don't equate having sexual education and the older population. Condoms should be available at LTC facilities.

[catlady]

I know all about the rules for not wearing gloves in the hall (I did infection control for a while), but doggone it, just yesterday I had to carry blood-soaked dressings to the soiled utility room (no red bin in the room). I wasn't about to do it with bare hands. Same thing with the Foley I removed the other day.

[SophiaRN]

Originally Posted by Danianne

I am sorry I was led to believe that you had to have some sort of education to be a CNA my bad. I get paid very well for what I do and then again there are CNAs who get paid very well to do nothing. Yes tell them that someone has herpes or scabies.


ohhh wait worms...there are more than 15 million people in the U.S. that are infected and don't even know it

Where did you get that stat? ( >15 million people in the US infected with worms)

[luvmy2angels]

I thank you all for your wonderful ideas. I met with my RN supervisor last night and she had a meeting with the CNAs and then met privately with some of the aides we are having specific problems with. They were told AGAIN about our infection control policy and that if after this meeting they were seen not following proper protocol we would start issuing verbal and written warnings. We already had to give a verbal last night ( about 3 hour after the meeting). Hopefully things will go a little better tonight!!

[rjf59]

I told the CNA's on my floor over and over to please not wear their gloves from room to room and to change them during care etc. They gave me a horrible time until I told them about a resident (un-named, of course) who had herpes of the eye. They got grossed out as I not only told them about that resident but also about some of the illness/disease that can be spread. Then I told them that IF I saw any of them from that point on, coming out of a resident's room with a pair of gloves on their hands, I'd write them up... They argued about how they'd bring the soiled linens out and I told them to bag it in the room and bring it out...It worked!!!

[DusktilDawn]

I think what also needs to be stressed when dealing with a co-worker who may not be following proper handwashing and gloving policies is this:
We not only follow these protocols to protect the patients, it is also to protect ourselves, someone may have something we don't about, and it may be what we don't know that causes the most harm.

[rach_nc_03]

At one large hospital, my general orientation included a powerpoint presentation by the infection control nurse. She included GRAPHIC photos (identifying information removed, of course) illustrating various infections with comments on how they happened, and how they should be treated. Some were caused by hospital staff having poor hand hygiene, some by inadequate care, and a few were related to the condition being treated. She also read a few first-hand accounts from healthcare workers who had contracted diseases when treating a patient with ungloved hands, or because of improper disposal of sharps.

I think this would work- I've used examples of what I heard in this class when I've given infection control inservices, and they made lasting impressions. One of the examples we were given involved a CNA in a nursery where all the babies were ending up with MRSA infections; they finally traced it back to her- she had a chronic open sore on her forearm and wore a sweater over her scrubs to cover it. The sweater stayed at work and was obviously never washed, and bacteria from the sore had spread down to the cuff of her sleeve.