Hand lotion

[deespoohbear]

Our infection control nurse has told us that we are not allowed to bring in our own hand lotion for our PERSONAL use at work. We are suppose to use the stuff supplied by the facility. She says it is because of infection control issues. The facility supplied stuff tears up my hands. It is anti-bacterial and eats my hands. I had to see a dermatologist a couple of years ago and he said all this anti-bacterial stuff is not good for my eczema. He says he knows I can't avoid the anti-bacterial soap at work but to try and stay away from it at home as much as possible. Our infection control nurse said she will actually confiscate any lotion brought from the outside. Does anyone else have a policy such as this? If so do employees abide by it? I would think it would be very hard to enforce and especially if the lotion is in your purse. I would like to see our IC nurse go through my purse. Heads would roll and it would not be mine. Any suggestions?

[KC CHICK]

I don't know, liberalrn. With that same theory, wouldn't our own natural oils from the skin break down gloves over time as well?

Non-latex gloves SHOULD BE PROVIDED regardless of facility budget. All we have to do is call central supply and they send what we need right up. I've never heard of anyone having a problem getting non-latex gloves. Do your facilities' administrators know what OSHA is?

As far as the lotion ABSORBING into the skin. Some may...yes...in the very upper surface layer..... but, I think most of it dries ONTO your skin. I still agree, however, that gloves aren't on long enough for the lotion to do any more damage than your natural oils would.

Anne:)

[liberalrn]

Good point about the absorption of lotion--essentailly just a coating to trap natural oils in. I do wonder about our own oils re: latex gloves. If I'm gloved for a length of time (in the same pair) say while assisting in a bedside procedure or during a code, esp. if I sweat in the things--they do get nasty inside. BUT my bottom line is: do present a contamination danger to myself or the pt?

Yes, nonlatex gloves are available--but they dole them out like salt shakers at a chf support group!

[yodakelly]

As a new hire, the infection control RN told a bunch of us during orientation of an outbreak of MRSA in our facility that was "traced" to a staff member's bottle of hand lotion.

I prefer my own lotion to the hospital's, but after that I left the big bottle at home and only use small bottles. I make sure not to touch it unless I've just washed my hands and I never refill. It really skeeved me out to hear that story.

[TMPaul]

We have that policy in the hospital I work at. It's due to hand lotions with petroleum bases in them inactivating latex.

[NotReady4PrimeTime, RN]

many moons ago when i worked neonatal, our clinical educator told us that lotions containing sugars were the infection baddies by promoting microbial growth... some lotions do not contain anything resembling sugar, so should be fine from that standpoint. however, the petroleum based ones do contribute to the breakdown of latex (remember the advice about not using vaseline for a lubricant unless you were hoping to get pg?:imbar). where i work now, the only time you can get non-latex gloves is if the patient has a latex sensitivity. i suppose if one threw oneself across the oh&s nurse's desk and cried, one might be permitted to have one's own box.:rotfl: when i worked in winnipeg, all our gloves were latex-free, but were powdered and caused some problems. we also had boxes of poly gloves at each bedside, and could just stroll down to the supply room and help ourselves to sterile nitrile gloves whenever the spirit moved.

[KMLWA2003]

our hospital does not provide lotion

i bring my own since i have such a terrible time with my hands cracking and bleeding

[Mimi2RN, ASN, RN]

Originally posted by kimberle

Anyways, many lotions do break down latex which will then ultimately set you up for a potential latex allergy (not fun in nursing) as your body is exposed to it frequently. So, I follow the standards presented, and if I have a problem/reaction with I will go to employee health because it is a work-related injury at that point. (And then next week theory and standards of practice will change again, eh?!:) )

Don't use latex gloves, I don't have a latex allergy, but I don't want to set myself up for one, either.

I use non-latex gloves most of the time, I also think that the less exposure the newborns have to latex, the better off they are.

mimi

[SmilingBluEyes]

agree mimi!!!!!!!!

[whipping girl in 07, RN]

Originally posted by janfrn

However, the petroleum based ones do contribute to the breakdown of latex (remember the advice about not using Vaseline for a lubricant unless you were hoping to get PG?:imbar).

I need to see the literature on this one. At work, I, for one, do NOT slather my GLOVED hands with petroleum-based lotion and shove them in and out of a tight body orifice for 30 sec to 10 min!

I only put on lotion as I need it, and after I've washed my hands and think it will be awhile before I'll have to wash them again (after all, I'm buying the darn stuff, I don't want to wash it off five minutes later). I also use some that's supposed to be water resistant (Avon Silicone Gloves or Vaseline Water Resistant) so I don't have to apply it as often.

Our hospital does not have the soap with triclosan in it in most areas unless it's in the room of a patient in isolation. I do not use that particular soap even if the patient is in isolation because I would have to de-gown and de-glove to wash my hands IN THE ISOLATION PATIENT'S ROOM since we don't have little anterooms for that. So I de-gown and de-glove, throw them away in the patient's room, then go wash my hands at the nearest sink (which has the "regular" soap). The triclosan lotion tears my hands up something fierce, and I have to be on the lookout for it, because when housekeeping cleans an isolation room, they don't discard the isolation soap, and for awhile I was using it accidentally until someone pointed it out to me. My hands cleared up well after that.

[Bekka_Lass]

We have the same policy at our hospital. Ofcourse most of the time there is no hospital provided lotion(which the stuff is terrible and leaves your hands drier it seems)...so ....you do what you have to, to keep your skin intact and with so much handwashing it can make your hands irritated, so we sometimes use our own that we stash away..It may be a good policy but the hospital should supply and it should be of good quality..And Yes i live in a dream world..

[NotReady4PrimeTime, RN]

I just read something about triclosan that is a little alarming. It apparently is absorbed through the skin and suppresses thyroid function. So now I need to worry about x-rays and handwashing! Great...

[Eyenurse]

At our hospital, the infection control team disapproves the use of bottles of lotion. Multi-user bottles can harbor micro-organisms, therefore the use of single use bottle are encouraged. We can bring our own lotion, as long as it does sit on a counter for other to use.