Do You Wear Gloves When...

[chevyv]

I'm a nursing student in my last semester of school. I also worked as a cna for many many years and currently work as a lpn in ltc. I wear gloves when I should, but yesterday a fellow nursing student corrected me for not wearing gloves to lotion a pts back. I never wear gloves for that unless the pt is on precautions or there's an obvious open area. I feel that human touch is important and a back rub with lotion is a good relaxing healing time. Have I been wrong all of these years?

The fellow student has clinical experience, but that's it. I hate to think I have to glove for everything I do. I do use universal precautions and wash my hands after contact. Thoughts?

[CoffeeRTC, BSN, RN]

No gloves unless I don't want the cream/ lotion etc on me or if my skin is bad.

I do a good back rub every so often...works a lot better than a sleeping pill for some res in LTC.

[dnp2004]

Probably not needed unless the skin appears to be compromised or pt has a weakened immune system. Most parts of the body are regularly examined without glove. I believe it is unusual for massage therapists to wear them as well because of the lack of tactile response encountered.

[Thankful RN,BSN]

i wear gloves for everything!

[Rhone]

I was just having a conversation about this very topic yesterday with a few of my fellow students. We were taught in class that you generally don't need gloves when the patient is not on isolation and there are no body fluids involved.

But sure enough, at the beginning of this semester my new clinical instructor walked in while I was doing vital signs and was like "Where are your gloves?!" I said "uh, I'm just doing vital signs.." and she declared that I must never touch a patient without gloves. She did explain later that it was due to the possibility of a patient having something like MRSA or C dif that the hospital hasn't discovered yet.

I guess whether to wear gloves during contact with unbroken skin is a matter of personal preference/paranoia (or, if you're a student, a matter of which clinical instructor you currently have).

[rn/writer, RN]

Here is a link to a similar discussion:

https://allnurses.com/general-nursing-student/dont-wear-gloves-368919.html

[casi, ASN, RN]

I rarely wear gloves for this.

The only time I do is if their skin isn't intact, they have a rash, or I'm putting on something medicated or that my skin might react to.

I think that good hand hygiene when your done with a patient goes a long way.

[MAISY, RN-ER, BSN, RN]

Can you say scabies? Get it once and you will never touch a nursing home, group home, or rehab patient again until YOU ARE SURE THEY DON'T HAVE IT!

Trust me, HORRIBLE!

[Virgo_RN, BSN, RN]

No, I would not wear gloves for this. I recently lotioned a dying patient- her hands, feet, and back- and did not wear gloves for precisely the reason that I felt that the human touch was just as important, if not more, than the actual lotion. I treat all of my patients this way (unless they are on contact precautions, then I will wear PPE when touching them).

Because a patient may have an infection that we do not know about, I also practice meticulous handwashing and keep my hands in good condition so that there are no portals of entry for microorganisms. Except during gardening season, when I often work in the garden gloveless. I have to change that habit.

[lainith]

I personally wear them myself because my skin is very sensitive and I wouldn't want a reaction to a lotion. Also, I ALWAYS seem to have little cuts and scrapes and dry skin on my hands so I need to protect the patients in that case. We were taught that it is acceptable to apply lotion without gloves to intact skin. I would prefer to be able to apply without gloves because it's kind of a giant PITA to do it that way but sometimes even the Johnson's baby lotion kills my hands.

[SnarfGirl]

I think the lotion goes further and smooths better with gloves on :redpinkhe

But as long as they don't have poor skin integrity - you are just fine!

[Suri08]

I have been taught to always wear gloves also as you never know what the patient has but has not been diagnosed with. I remember first semester we had a check off and they told us to follow what our skills manuel said. Well, no where did it say to don gloves, so I went in and washed my hands and began to take my patients blood pressure. The teacher almost fell over and was like where are your gloves!! You should always wear gloves no matter what. I got use to always washing my hands putting gloves in the pockets just in case and then when exiting the room throwing the gloves and washing my hands. I always got made fun of at work (CNA) because I always had gloves. I remember two times that I was the only one wearing gloves with patients and one patient was under contact precations but someone forgot to put a sign up and the other was put on contact precautions about 30 min. later. I am new to nursing and I know for a fact I wear gloves when I really don't need to, but I know in time I will learn when it is appropriate and when it isn't. When in doubt, wear gloves...

[groovylittlerockstar]

:heartbeatI'm pretty fresh from nursing school (about 5 years ago) and we were taught that you only needed gloves when coming into contact with bodily fluids like urine, blood etc.:redbeathe