Do You Wear Gloves When...

k-love · Feb 21, 2009

Yes I think you should wear your gloves even for that, anything that includes pt contact, including taking vitals. Even if you think you will be okey ,to your knowlege that is. Standerd precaution should be used at all times for everyone for your safety and your client's. And if the client asks why then you will be able to tell them that its done with everyone not just them.

lpnstudentin2010, LPN · Feb 21, 2009

**********from a patient view**********

Wearing gloves for that type of thing, general touching inculding vital signs, is a forign consept for me. Where I am a patient, the only time they wear gloves is

-when messing with the IV (i include everything iv related here)

-helping in the bathroom

-taking sheets off bed to change them

-i assume if an IM injection is needed though they are as needle free as possible

you have to remember though I go to a childrens hospital, so that may be where the difference comes from

chevyv, BSN, RN · Feb 21, 2009

I've only seen scabies once before. They were like red looking dots. I certainly wouldn't want to pick that up!

MAISY, RN-ER, BSN, RN · Feb 21, 2009

I know more about scabies than I ever wanted to....the problem is that they don't have to present like the textbook states they do! Norwegian scabies are the worst and hardest to get rid of!

My FIL had the appearance of a red-rast s/pUTI and Levquin, too bad that happened; perhaps physician may have looked for alternatives. The classic "tracks" never appeared on him or us! Just localized itching, skin reacting to mite feces, body parts, deaths and eggs...YUCK! Red ares from scratching.

So you never no, until you knowl

Scrubby · Feb 22, 2009

I would definitely wear gloves when applying lotion. I'm not a touchy feely person and don't like the thought of this sort of intimate contact with a person without a barrier.

And if I was the patient I would not allow a nurse to rub a lotion in without gloves. To be honest the thought of it makes me feel a little uncomfortable.

rn/writer, RN · Feb 22, 2009

I too, cherish and love human touch....
BUT, I've been "surprised" so often, by so many various things (needles, body fluids), in so many different parts of the body and by so many different patient populations - with the added caveat that since I work in the ED the malad(ies) of the patient are as yet unknown - that I never do person-person contact without universal precautions and barrier methods.
Call me paranoid. Call me whetever.
But until you've ever felt the terror of feeling an accidental "needle prick" when you turned over that 35 year old patient to help reposition in bed and a week later they run infectious disease titres on said pt. and it comes back positive for HIV.....
Until then... well, there's not a whole lot more I need to say about that (happened to a colleague and friend at my old job and thankfully she tested negative - but they still put her on the med regimen for 6 months. She's been negative 2 years on now).
cheers,

I'm not arguing with you, Roy. Just want to know what kind of gloves could make much difference with a needle-stick. Even chain mail has those little holes. And they snag on the bedding.

ms_orion · Mar 5, 2009

Today I was informed that the medication nurses were to wear gloves when dispensing oral medications from a medicine cup...whats up with that? have any of you heard this new standard, am I just behind the times or what? :rolleyes:

chevyv, BSN, RN · Mar 5, 2009

Today I was informed that the medication nurses were to wear gloves when dispensing oral medications from a medicine cup...whats up with that? have any of you heard this new standard, am I just behind the times or what?

I couldn't even imagine having to wear gloves for oral meds! Sometimes it's hard enough to get them in without gloves making it more difficult!

lolalolacherrycola · Mar 5, 2009

I couldn't even imagine having to wear gloves for oral meds! Sometimes it's hard enough to get them in without gloves making it more difficult!

Never heard of having to wear gloves to pass meds...anyone?

Flare, ASN, BSN · Mar 5, 2009

can you imagine trying to open some of those blister packs with gloves on?!

chevyv, BSN, RN · Mar 5, 2009

I have a hard time finding gloves at work that fit well. They just don't like to stock small gloves! I would be picking pills up off the floor and wasting soooooo much! Not to mention using time that I just don't have. UGH!!

azhiker96, BSN, RN · Mar 13, 2009

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).

I disagree with that instructor. Using her reasoning we should be wearing gloves all the time. Anyone we meet may have MRSA or something else. We should probably be wearing masks too since anyone we meet might have TB, strep throut, or other illness that requires droplet protections. I'd suggest wear gloves when universal precautions recommends and if you feel more comfortable using gloves with a particular patient. If you find yourself wearing gloves for all patient contact there may be a problem.