Aseptic technique question

[SCSUStudent]

In what order do you put on gown, gloves, mask ,eyewear, and cap in a clean (medical asepsis) and sterile (surgical asepsis)?

In what order do you take them off in both of those cases?

Thank you!

[Mandychelle79, ASN, RN]

You are going to need to look it up in your textbook. Sometimes what happens in practice is not what happens by the book.

[BellsRNBSN]

In what order do you put on gown, gloves, mask ,eyewear, and cap in a clean (medical asepsis) and sterile (surgical asepsis)?

In what order do you take them off in both of those cases?

Thank you!

At my nursing school, for medical asepsis, our teachers taught us to put on: Cap, Gown, Mask, Eyewear, Gloves in that order.

Then, for taking them all off: Gloves, Gown, Eyewear, Mask, Cap (in that order). --> basically take off the dirtiest things first and the least dirty last.

They never mentioned surgical asepsis specifically, so it's either the same, or we just haven't gotten to it yet.

I should add that in the hospital, at least for contact precautions, most of the nurses I have seen don't follow a specific order and just put it all on and take it all off in the quickest, most efficient manner.

It might be different for your school, but I hope this helps!

[Rose_Queen, BSN, MSN, RN]

Coming from an OR nurse: caps must be worn before you can enter the restricted OR area. This includes just the hallways. Basically, we must wear a cap unless in the locker room, in the breakroom, or in PACU. Being a sterile procedure, you NEVER want to touch something that isn't sterile with something that is. What isn't sterile: cap, mask, and eyewear. What is sterile (at least in the OR): gown and gloves. Those who will be part of a sterile field will put on mask and eyewear, open their supplies, then go do their surgical scrub. They then put on the gown, never touching the outside of it (skin is never considered sterile). Hands are not exposed past the gown's cuff. The gloves are put on over the cuffs and then the hands slipped into them, again without touching the sterile outside of the gloves (it's much easier with visual- google closed gloving technique, and videos should pop up). However, as you are still a student, you will be tested on what the textbook says, so that is where you should be looking first, not on a message board where you aren't going to be guaranteed the right answer. You may find that you get more of the "real world" answer, which may not be the same as what your teacher will be looking for.

[Alsi]

this is what i did.

1.cap - must be worn before entering the OR.(i would put it on in the locker)

2.mask - before opening any sterile items onto the sterile field.

3.eyeware - after you leave the OR room to go do your scrub (if you wear the shiled/mask version it saves time).

also the time to put on shoe covers(only wear those when i know its going to be a messy case).

--affter you washed--

4. gown - you would go in the OR room and put it on.(theres a certain way to put it on, requires a second person to assit)

5. gloves - using aseptic tecnique.

as far as order when taking off, there are two ways that aren't very different from each other. its perference, they are both correct ways. but depending on what kind of gown you wear. if your wearing a disposable gown either way is okay. if your wearing one of those fabric gown only the first one works. the second way can get tricky to pull off correctly.

you can just go in almost reverse order:

1.gown (remove in the room)

2.gloves (remove in the room)

3.mask or shield/mask shoe covers if wearing them. (preferably in the room. it has to happen after the patient has left; or right outside the OR room *depending* on the layout of the OR.)

4. cap. (outside the OR)

the other way isn't much different and is what i along with others i work perfer (btw i'm wearing the disposable gowns) which is i remove the gown along with my gloves and dump it all in the trash then mask and shoe cover. finally only once i leave the OR area do i take off the cap(in the locker).

side note: the fabric gowns have a specific bag they go in along with thing like towels that get reused. disposable things like gloves aren't allowed in those bags, hence why you can only take those gowns off a certain way. whereas the disposable things get all trashed.

[SCSUStudent]

Thank you! Very interesting information regarding real life OR procedures!