Do you wear gloves

Nurses General Nursing

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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

If I seemed a bit sharp to some when I responded to a post, it was because I had not been asked a question, I had been told I dropped a bomb. After that, many questions were posed and I responded, appreciating the "sorry" at the end of the post.

I may have taken the statement that "I dropped a bomb" wrong. I took it as criticism. I did provide useful information in any case, all based on the authority of nursing texts, medical articles, CDC information as well as my experience in:

1 - As a student, in Brooklyn, in 1985, I saw AIDS patients in almost every clinical setting I was in. The first one I cared for was a non-IVDU young woman married to an IVDU. The second one I cared for was four.

When I started as a student, people were putting on space suits to walk into an AIDS patients room and say hello. In the meantime, blood would be drawn from a non-AIDS patient without gloves. Given that AIDS was being seen as "the tip of an iceburg" people started thinking, "how do I know who has this incurable infection?" The CDC responded by saying that since you don't know, assume everyone can and protect yourself appropriately, take "universal precautions".

When students, first, then practitioners started wearing gloves for any potential exposure to blood and body fluids, patients would get upset. They would say, "what, you think I have AIDS?" It really did happen, just as Mario thought it might. As the glove wearer I had to explain, no, I don't think you have AIDS, but I've been told I should wear gloves with every patient, even someone as obviously uninfected as you, or I will fail. We did a good job in the mid eighties and now people expect you to wear gloves. So, the CDC has started calling this standard precautions.

2 - I worked for about a year in a sterile bone marrow transplant unit. This meant sterilizing everything in the patients environment, including the patient (skin, mouth, gut, lady parts, etc.) and using strict sterile technique (including full surgical scrub) to go into room. We had to learn the difference between sterile "clean" gloves and sterile "sterile" gloves as anything that went into the room had to be sterilized first - even boxes of clean gloves. We put clean gloves over sterile gloves to make beds, empty potties, etc. to prevent our sterile gloves from being contaminated.

As such, learning "rules" was too hard. It was easier to learn the difference between sterile and clean, what is considered non-sterile (anything below your waste or above your shoulders is considered non sterile, BTW), and then pay attention so I would know if I was "clean" or "sterile".

3 - Finally, the most important concept to remember in infection control I think is "barrier" - something placed between a possibly infectious source and a possibly susceptible host. Exactly who is protected by the barrier depends - who may have an infection, who may get it? Gloves, gowns, masks, eye shields all follow from that understanding.

For susceptible hosts (in this case, nurses) there are barriers provided by nature. One of the most important is the skin. It is rare to get an infection through the skin when there are no breaks. Of course if a microbe is on your hands, you eat a piece of cake, say, the microbe will likely pass into your gut. Most microbes are passed through the gut without causing infections (the GI tract has barriers of its own). Even aerosolized microbes generally meet some barriers before they get into the lungs and the rest of the system.

That is why handwashing - frequent and especially before and after patient contact; before and after eating; anytime you even think there was a chance of touching a germ is the number one method for preventing the transmission of infections.

*****Correct handwashing using appropriate techniques, appropriate soaps is more effective than any other infection control method. *****

Check your books, check infection control manuals, check with the CDC. If anyone discovers that this information is incorrect from any of these sources, please let me know.

One more thing - all of this is tied very closely to the use of the antibiotics being studied. Overuse of antibiotics has led to the overabundance of resistant organisms (non-resistant ones are killed). Fewer antiobiotics are needed when appropriate infection control methods are used - especially handwashing.

Sorry for the lecture, folks. I'll probably stop posting now. I'll check back though. I may have missed some new information about infection control. If someone posts credible information, I will apologize for my errors.

Originally posted by abrenrn

I may have taken the statement that "I dropped a bomb" wrong. I took it as criticism. I did provide useful information

And thats what the bomb in this case is: useful information. A bomb shakes everything, and my word imadgry is often way out there on Pluto so I apologize.

I concur with everything that is said, because it is all making sense to me. And I always am in your debt for the knowledge you/yall provide.:rolleyes: 204158644 The only experience I have haad with bacteria is what I grew on petri dishes; the rest is all imaginary and conceptual. 'd love to get some samples to look at under the microscope from an actual room, or to see live c-diff.153581078 Yall know alot about this subject and I am honored to talk to you. When I get to work they ask me right away if i am clean, or if I am dirty. If I am clean, I go to transplant room. If I am dirty, I go to isolation rooms. Big deal, right? It's all really interesting stuff to me.199239716 I'd love to play this board game with you, with some sterile wine and kosher cheeze :-(:kiss

Too bad we can't play the game. In any case I don't drink wine for the most part (even thoughthe alcohol, a great disinfectant, tends to sterilize it - safer with vodka I think), and those I generally like kosher (old Hebrew National commercial, "we answer to a higher power"), I only like melted cheese.

Thanks, though.

Can I be the hat? :)

What really blew my mind several years ago is when I naively volunteered to be part of an infection control team. We were having a high rate of UTIs and other infections, usually of the same Genus. So, we went around doing environmental cultures.

E.coil in the ice machine. Pseudomonas on water fountains. C.diff on silverware. And you don't even want the list of bacteria on door knobs, the telephone, in the clean utility room, on hand rails in the halls, at the nurses station . . .

Wearing gloves to protect ME is essential !! :D

Just want to add that I almost always wear gloves. There are times I choose to take the risk of not wearing gloves. This occurs only when a - my hands have no visible openings and b - only latex is available.

If I wash my hands well, there is minimal if any risk to the patient. If my skin is intact there is a low degree of risk to me (if I wash my hands immediately after, using paper towels on faucets, the whole nine yards). If I wear latex, though, I itch. I get tears in my skin. My own personal barrier has been breached. I am now at much higher risk of infection from any source than I was before I put on the latex gloves.

I try my best to have vinyl at all times and not have to choose one thing over the other. But my intact skin protects me all the time, I don't wear gloves all the time. If I have to choose between the intact skin and gloves that will cause breaks, I choose the intact skin as the greater form of protection. Since I wash my hands, I do not put my patient at greater risk.

And I do always worry about the hands in the glove box before me. Were they washed?

My final two cents.

I think this subject has been handled very well. The reasons for wearing gloves and hand-washing have been thoroughly explaned and defended. Why any nurse in this day and age would expose themselves and risk their co-workers and patients by not gloving-up is beyond me. It's irresponsible and dangerous. To those who are afraid of contracting a latex allergy (or already have) I say this: There has been a great deal of research and experimentation to come up with a good latex free glove. The hospital where I'm employed is attempting to remove as much latex as possible. Latex-free gloves are now the standard glove in every patient room and every procedure room. They're purple and gaudy but they're comfortable, fairly stretchy, and actually great educational opportunities when patients questions our purple gloves.) If your facility is not forward-facing enough to be following the trend toward latex free then it's up to you to demand a latex free glove for your own safety. While you're at it you might also go to your administration and ask why your facility is not protecting patients and staff by removing latex from as many areas as possible.

There's no valid excuse for not wearing gloves in situation with the potential for exposure to body fluids. Has anybody NEVER grabbed what they thought was a dry sheet only to realize they're handling someone's urine? :uhoh21:

Protect yourselves and protect others. Wear GLOVES!

Specializes in Specializes in L/D, newborn, GYN, LTC, Dialysis.

well-said Pat...

There really IS NO EXCUSE not to wear gloves in the face of what is known today about pathgens and the dangers involved.

a large University affiliated hospital I used to work for still has latex gloves on all the units and in all the rooms. It practically takes acts of both God and congress to get them to provide nonlatex gloves - they require testing in their lab documenting a positive Ag-Ab response to latex. Then, heaven help you if you go thru your supply too fast...

My take on this is shame on them and they should know better Latex allergies can develop over time. The allergic response can also worsen without warning.

By the way, I also put on gloves for any kind of patient contact. With the babies - well we all know where they just came from and some of the micropreemies are not stable enough for a thorough bath for a while after birth (not to mention that their skin has the consistency of Jello)

As far as working with adults, I put gloves on as soon as I enter the room. Some people are just not clean and would not think twice about wiping their noses with their hands (or picking at a wound, etc.) and then touching something in the room. EWW! Makes me want to grab some alcohol foam just thinking about it.

My theory is "Everyone potentially has Everything" So I glove for all procedures including vitals much of the time and wash hands after. I also change gloves if they become soiled or wet.

I can catch enough germs from my kids, I dont need them from work too.

I'm not even a nurse yet, and in my current job as a jail officer, I always wear gloves when I have to come in contact with a prisoner, if it's just searching, fingerprinting, or putting cuffs and shackles on, I wear rubber gloves and use hand sanitizer. Maybe I'm just anal lol

Tim

Specializes in LTC,Hospice/palliative care,acute care.

If I had not seen this I would not have believed it but I watched a co-worker of mine suction sans gloves last weekend..repeatedly.And there was a frigging box of gloves at her elbow.What WAS she thinking? She is a new RN and also has long artificial nails.I said something off hand about them one day and she said "If this was a real job like in a hospital I would not wear them" Hello" We have MRSA in LTC -and a host of other nasties....eewwwww

I like to wear the purple nitrile ones the best, medium is my size. They go with most of my colors of scrubs, and are dashing to be seen in when I wear white or red. I don't wear them for all PT contact because my eyes/brain account for a good portion of my protection from fomites. I believe my intact skin is my ultimate protection. My fear is in the stuff thats floating around on dust particles - the virus - gloves are like window dressing anyplace there is droplet or airborne precautions.

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