Do you wear gloves

[mellow]

Sorry I have so many questions but you guys are so helpful. I was woundering do you wear gloves most of the time, like when taking blood, giving injections etc. I remeber being in a hospital and one of the nurses put some pill like thing up someones bum with no glove. surely this isn't normal practice. Also do you worry about catching something contagious or have you pricked your self with a needle after it's come in contract with someone else.

Thanks

[NC_ED_RN]

First, that nurse is disgusting and unsafe to not only himself or herself but to other clients. Second, I don't do anything that calls for contact with bodily fluids/solids that I do not glove up. As much as I hate to admit it, some of my collegues think I glove up too frequently. My family means too much to me to bring home a disease that would burden them or grossly affect heir lifestyle. Let me see if I can word this succinctly .... WEAR YOUR GLOVES!! In addition, the handwashing routine that is drilled in during nursing school and facility orientations, merits you full attention also. NC_ED_RN

[P_RN, ADN, RN]

I am reminded of a dear lady patient once who was admitted for observation post IOL because of her diabetes. She was a retired administrator of a university and well known in church circles.

On that "routine" admission questionaire was DO YOU HAVE HIV, AIDS et al.......I almost didn't ask it, but she answered YES!

Wear those gloves nurses. LEARN how to start an IV with them on. If they are too baggy go get some surgeons gloves in one size smaller. It can be done. Don't risk your lives for a few minutes convenience. And don't take ANYTHING home to your loved ones.

[mlolsonny]

Originally posted by panda_181

Oh yeah, and what is a BSL?

I think they were referring to a blood sugar level.

[mario_ragucci]

Wearing gloves is part of universal precaution. 'Nuff said. But if you really think about it, our own intact skin is the whole ball of wax. My dermis is my barrier, and part of my forcefield.sys. The extreme fear and respect of dangerous microorganisms and viral stuff often boarderlines obsessive.

The epidermis of my body is incredible. I am totally sealed up! What enters my body freely are various gases. i'm not scared to death of body fluids/excretement because i still have a double barrelled immune.sys, but mostly it's intact epidermis.

If I'm at potential for getting "bad stuff" on my hands then of course I wear gloves.

As long as i fortify my skin from the inside, the forcefield stays strong. I know some will snipe me and think I am saying not to wear gloves. i'm not. I wish I could wear a respirator sometimes for 100% clean air.

[Agnus]

I hear you Mario. It's those microscopic skin opening that I am subject to because I use my hands for more than just hand modeling that concern me. openings that I am not always aware of myself.

It is the assaults on my immuned system that we experience every day that weaken it and make me more vunerable. Things like excess stress that is not always deat with well. Exposure to toxins that we are not always aware of etc.

[emily_mom]

I never used to think about it much until my nephews were born at 28 weeks, weighing 2 and 3 lbs. Many of the nurses in the NICU didn't wear gloves and they ended up contracting e coli thru their central line (which was behind their ear). The doctors told my sister that they "had no idea how the boys could have contracted it". Whatever!!!!

Now I always insist on everyone who is working on me or a loved one to glove up. It only takes a few seconds. Someone tried to draw blood on my husband w/ no gloves....wrong!!!

Kristy

[Faby]

hi. reading almost all the posts, there's an question that comes up to me. Are doctors and other healthcare staff members, different from nurses, as careless about handwashing as they are in Uruguay? We really have a problem hee, besides that not all nursing staff members are used to ALLWAYS wash their hands, we find that most doctors, and surgeons, are real careless about handwashing while they are in contaact with human fluids,ie when they are assesing patients and between one patient and another. It's a real problem, since if the patient's operating site gets infected, they generally blame nursing staff. they don't recognize their fault.

[fab4fan]

The more you use gloves for IV's/blood draws, the more skill you develop in feeling the vein, even with pedi sticks.

One thing I do is wear a smaller glove, so that it fits tightly, almost like a second skin...that way I don't have the problem with the looseness at the fingertips.

I also remember being told by some nurses many years ago that wearing gloves could be insulting to the pt., and make the pt. feel "dirty." The one nsg. home where I worked as an aide had older aides who did just about everything gloveless...they used to make fun of me for gloving to take out people's dentures. It absolutely grossed me out to see them stick their hands in a pt's mouth and pull out those grody dentures. Ick!

[nurs4kids]

me and my coworker's are terrible examples for universal precautions..

we have a false sense of security d/t our patient population looking so innocent..so clean..

i try to remind myself that i'm exposing myself to everything mom & dad have ever exposed themselves to, but I'm still a very poor glove wearer..

don't always wear them starting iv's..

don't always wear them changing diapers..

never wear them changing soiled linens..

only always..is when doing wound care/dsg changes.

sad, real sad, eh?

[SmilingBluEyes]

Mario, beautiful...but you forget ...it's not JUST YOURSELF YOU ARE PROTECTING by wearing gloves...it's your coworkers, your classmates,and the OTHER PATIENTS......think of it that way.....you need be concerned about more than your "own skin"....wearing gloves as part of observing Universal Precautions is NOT optional; it is a REQUIREMENT. For good reason.

[nurs4kids]

Originally posted by emily_mom

I never used to think about it much until my nephews were born at 28 weeks, weighing 2 and 3 lbs. Many of the nurses in the NICU didn't wear gloves and they ended up contracting e coli thru their central line (which was behind their ear).

Kristy

central line behind their ear or ecoli???

[mario_ragucci]

Originally posted by emily_mom

Someone tried to draw blood on my husband w/ no gloves....wrong!!!

Kristy

Someone coughed near my wife w/no mask...ejected!!!:kiss