Double gloving: A good idea just got easier to implement

**Ansell**

Not enough time, poor feel, poor fit, discomfort, and loss of agility are often cited as reasons nurses choose not to double glove. Yet most of us agree that double gloving is an effective practice in protecting against exposure to blood and bodily fluid transmission in the OR and/or ER.

The issue is similar to the American public's resistance to wearing seat belts. Most everyone agrees that seat belts save lives and reduce the severity of injuries. And today, approximately 90 percent of the population regularly use them, according the National Highway Safety Administration. But any nurse who has treated an automobile accident victim that wasn't wearing a seatbelt can tell you that number is still too low.

However, it's much better than the 15 percent of the population that used seat belts back in 1984. Mandatory use is one reason for the increase, but making these safety devices more comfortable and easier to use, plus public education about the benefits, has certainly helped. Another, more obvious reason for adaptation is the pinging noise one hears if one's seat belt isn't fastened.

Consider this article your "ping" regarding double gloving. It's a fact: studies indicate that double gloving reduces the risk of inner glove perforations by 71 percent over only single gloving.

Yes, it's tough to break old habits, but facts are facts. Personal protective equipment (PPE), properly used, provides the safeguards for which it is intended - keeping the worker and patient safe. It's time for double gloving to be a necessary practice, not only a convenience.

However, we also must take double gloving a step further. Simply donning two gloves doesn't completely address all safety risks. Accidents can still happen, and many existing glove options are not optimal for healthcare risks. A tear in an outer glove might not be seen if both gloves are the same color. That raises the risk of fluid exposure. In a busy OR environment, a nurse may not realize that one layer of protection is gone until it's too late. How can we make double gloving both easier to implement and effective?

PPE innovations are the answer to developing a double gloving system that provides the best protection possible. What if a pre-donned glove-in-glove system that uses proven, existing non-latex glove technology were available? Simply unwrap, one don, and you're done, eliminating the lag in donning time.

What if the outer and inner gloves were also pre-aligned at the fingertips? That would address comfort, agility and dexterity concerns.

And what if the outer and inner gloves come in different colors - say, a semi-transparent outer glove and a green inner glove? That would allow any tears to the outer glove to be readily visible.

And what if there is no "what if?" What if these types of gloves innovations were available today? The technology exists and is now commercially available. Would that change your mind about double gloving?

Innovations in glove formulation and packaging are also making double gloving more user and environmentally friendly. New gloves feature non-latex diphenylguanidine-free (DGP-free) and cetylpryidinium chloride-free (CPC) construction, eliminating the risk of Type I latex allergies and minimizing chemical Type IV allergies and skin sensitivities. Furthermore, new double gloving solutions that come pre-donned also allow two gloves to be packaged in one inner-wrap and one poly-pouch, reducing packaging by 50 percent and eliminating waste that would go into a landfill.

Double gloving is certainly not a new concept by any stretch. But stretching the thinking behind double gloving just made it a lot easier to do it the next time you need to don.

Edited by allnurses to add:

For information about the GAMMEX PI Glove-in-Glove System, go to the overview in the allnurses Product Directory.

Double gloving: A good idea just got easier to implement

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