Improper glove use at your local eatery(s)

[dawnsternlpn]

:down::down::down:Have you been in a deli, pizza shop, restaurant, bakery, etc...and the staff open doors, change money and handle then bag your food with the same worn out pair of gloves the last 30 customers had the pleasure of bring home germs from? Have they no one to advise them? As the prices here in the United States continue to rise, how is it that our standards as consumers slide downhill and allow us to accept this ignorance and lack of good hygiene...........I'm sure with the extra income gauged by some shopkeepers they could afford the change of gloves between customers or enforce hand washing. Have you ever seen your local deli man wash his hands between customers? Me either. I have recently started to complain when neither is done in front of me.......afterall when they or their family members come to the hospital I'm sure they would quickly complain if immediately after assisting in a pericare I began to administer meds to them or one of their families. As Nurses can we all do a little patient teaching in our local eateries. Please, it's the least we can do, afterall we have no clue what techniques are used in restraunt kitchens that we don't see. Just my 2 cents:twocents:

[nursejohio, ASN, RN]

That irritates the snot out of me too! Especially when I see them at the register, taking payment, and then wanna come make my food with the same money germy gloves on. ICK

[nightmare, RN]

My local baker is the same,there they wear one glove,but instead of keeping that hand as the 'clean' hand they handle money etc with it as well!!

[KyPinkRN]

Actually, I fail to see the point in them wearing gloves at all... they should just practice good handwashing. The gloves are gross. I know how my hands sweat after wearing them for just 5 minutes, I can't imagine wearing them for hours at a time... seems like a breeding ground for whatever wants to live under there.

[LovingNurse, BSN, RN]

I speak up. I ask to talk to the manager (if available) and say something like, if you don't want a health dept write up, I suggest your employees do "such & such."

[Penguin67]

Was at a local fast food pizza place at the mall. (Name withheld.) Watched the worked cutting pizza for someone in front of me, no gloves. Actually probably not such a big deal until I spot her 2-3 inch (no joke) purple fingernails digging into the thick crust as she used that hand to stabilize the pizza so she could cut into it with the other hand. My mind immediately thought of all of the gunk under your nails. So, I piped up to my friend standing beside me "I can't believe she isn't wearing gloves." My friend agreed. The worked replied, "Well, I don't have to." To which I replied "Well, I don't have to eat here, either." And I walked away. Most of the others who were waiting in line and heard the conversation also walked away as well.

And, the worker was incorrect. I believe that health department standards mandate wearing gloves when touching food, at least with those fingernails. Not sure if those are allowed, either. If a nurse can't wear them at work, then food workers should not br allowed to have long fake nails, either.

[Nascar nurse, ASN, RN]

I agree, this is gross and drives me nuts. I have seen gloves that look like they have been on their hands for their entire shift. I would rather them just practice good handwashing and skip the gloves. I saw a grocery store checker wearing a dirty pair of gloves one day and casually/innocently commented on why she would need gloves to swipe groceries. She went on and on about all the germs she has to come into contact with and how gross it all was, etc. I figured I was never going to convince her that some hand sanitizer would be way more useful that one pair of gloves for the whole day!

[Mellowchick]

The reality is that a fast food eatery is not a sterile environment and to compare your favorite SubSandwich place with a hospital is ridiculous. Yes, they should wash their hands more often, shouldn't everyone?

Eating fast food anywhere is always a risky endeavor as they are usually staffed with minimum wage workers who really couldn't care less.

Really, who needs mall pizza anyway??? If you're that concerned perhaps you should consider your food choices and not how it is prepared.

On the other hand (literally) I'm all for getting rid of those disgusting fake nails on everyone. Talk about a breeding ground!

[mscsrjhm]

And to continue to gross you out- think about the menus. How many customers or serving staff have handled them after going to the bathroom, without washing their hands? Have you ever seen anyone clean them?

We always use alcohol gel after ordering from the menu. Would hate to see what it would culture.

[KyPinkRN]

And to continue to gross you out- think about the menus. How many customers or serving staff have handled them after going to the bathroom, without washing their hands? Have you ever seen anyone clean them?

We always use alcohol gel after ordering from the menu. Would hate to see what it would culture.

That's a good point I've never thought about before... I used to work in a restaurant... we never cleaned the menus, ever!

[ccrunner2787]

Hello all... Just figured I'd throw my experiences out there. I work at a local restaurant as a server/host. (Also in CNA program. Wish me luck :wink2: ) My job involves a ton of interactions with people and items. When I host, I seat people as well as ring them out at the registers. The restaurant also has a bakery section behind the registers. Therefore a lot of customers come out from the dining room with their check to pay and have the opportunity for cookies, pies, muffins, etc, etc.

If a customer asks for something from the bakery it is my job to package it up for them. And EVERYONE that works there knows that you are to use gloves when handling things like that. Especially after busing tables, handling money, even touching a doorknob. I understand the importance of using gloves not only from a medical standpoint, but also from just old fashioned common sense. Who wants to eat something after someone else's hands have been all over it? And honestly, I use gloves every single time I do an order like that for a customer. I treat others just like I want to be treated. If it takes and extra minute to put on gloves and wash my hands I think that the customer understands and appreciates it. Others I work with (Kitchen staff included) don't wear gloves because of the "hassle" of loss of dexterity, the tearing, the sweating, and making them slower. But i feel that if I have to work a little bit harder and faster to get the rest of my job responsibilities done it's definitely worth it.

Just wanted to share that with everyone. I could have gone on and on... haha.

(Also brand new to the site. This was my first post... hope I didn't ramble and actually contributed)

[KyPinkRN]

Hello all... Just figured I'd throw my experiences out there. I work at a local restaurant as a server/host. (Also in CNA program. Wish me luck :wink2: ) My job involves a ton of interactions with people and items. When I host, I seat people as well as ring them out at the registers. The restaurant also has a bakery section behind the registers. Therefore a lot of customers come out from the dining room with their check to pay and have the opportunity for cookies, pies, muffins, etc, etc.

If a customer asks for something from the bakery it is my job to package it up for them. And EVERYONE that works there knows that you are to use gloves when handling things like that. Especially after busing tables, handling money, even touching a doorknob. I understand the importance of using gloves not only from a medical standpoint, but also from just old fashioned common sense. Who wants to eat something after someone else's hands have been all over it? And honestly, I use gloves every single time I do an order like that for a customer. I treat others just like I want to be treated. If it takes and extra minute to put on gloves and wash my hands I think that the customer understands and appreciates it. Others I work with (Kitchen staff included) don't wear gloves because of the "hassle" of loss of dexterity, the tearing, the sweating, and making them slower. But i feel that if I have to work a little bit harder and faster to get the rest of my job responsibilities done it's definitely worth it.

Just wanted to share that with everyone. I could have gone on and on... haha.

(Also brand new to the site. This was my first post... hope I didn't ramble and actually contributed)

If you are washing your hands properly before and after handling the money... then I will still say that using gloves is overkill. People are way too germophobic these days for their own good. I would like to know of some kind of research that says using gloves during food prep actually does cut down on foodborne illness... As for the state of Ky, I have just spent about a half hour reading over our "code"... gloves are not mentioned anywhere as a requirement for safe food handling. There are however strict rules about cleanliness of workers and rules about fingernails and such, it even states that workers must be free of infection that could be potentially passed through contact with food...no mention of gloving at all.

Gloves may be benificial if they were used in the manner in which they were intended, but too many people don't wash their hands (because they "don't have to cause their wearing gloves") or don't change them often enough. This can be a dangerous situation, defeating the whole purpose for frequent handwashing. I would almost bet that they transfer more bacteria that way than if they actually practiced good handwashing without wearing gloves.