Gloves? Is this acceptable?

[medsurgRNCali]

I know we are suppose to use gloves for everything. And I always put gloves on as soon as i go into the room , but I have seen many nurses not use gloves if they are just passing a oral med. Is this acceptable? In reality you are not touching the patient, you scan his band, scan the med and put it in the med cup. I can see why they wouldn't use gloves, it seems it would be easier to open those dang pills without them! But isnt this frowned upon?

[LovingLife123]

Serious question. Do you also gown up?

Nope. Just glove up. Nothing wrong with it. And I don't need to defend myself.

[LovingLife123]

Protecting the patient from you? Assuming you wash your hands after going to the bathroom, and don't come to work with weeping sores or influenza, what exactly are you protecting them from?

Yes, I wash my hands. Obviously. Lots of things can happen though. And my response was more towards the person who thought we would offend patients by gloving up. I think it would be more offensive to not glove up.

I always glove up. And I will not defend me gloving up.

[klone, MSN, RN]

I always glove up. And I will not defend me gloving up.

Um, okay. You sound a little defensive, there. I was just kind of hoping for a science-based rationale for your practice. Guess not. If you're so vehemently opposed to discussing your rationale, I'm a bit confused why you would bring it up in the first place. Surely you knew people would ask.

[Flatline, BSN, RN]

As I am sitting in the CVICU I wish more would glove up. I cringe to watch nurses handle bloody CVCs, icky Foley's, slimy ET tubes with their bare hands. I have watched too many scrape blood off of something with their fingernails and then later on pick the blood out from under their nails later on.

I see this often throughout the country in many different hospitals.

[Wuzzie]

Nope. Just glove up. Nothing wrong with it. And I don't need to defend myself.

No need to be defensive. As I said it was a serious question. It just seems to be pointless for general patient contact.

Have you ever cultured the computer keyboard you use at work? Now those are scary! Unless you glove for every contact for every surface you come in contact with at work I don't see how gloving to reset an IV pump or answer a question makes a

difference. But there's no harm in it so you do you!

[osceteacher]

Nope. Just glove up. Nothing wrong with it. And I don't need to defend myself.

Sure you don't need to on here. But if you're going to say you do something that contravenes any evidence based practice and any common sense then you should at least expect to get questioned on it.

Wearing gloves for everything is an utter waste of time and costs organisations a lot of money, its harmful for the environment with all that wasted incinerated material.

There is evidence to suggest over use of gloves is actively harmful to patients, multiple studies have shown this, and here.

So whilst you may think you don't need to defend yourself, or that there is 'nothing wrong with it', if you worked on my ward, you absolutely would have to, because I base practice on evidence.

As I am sitting in the CVICU I wish more would glove up. I cringe to watch nurses handle bloody CVCs, icky Foley's, slimy ET tubes with their bare hands. I have watched too many scrape blood off of something with their fingernails and then later on pick the blood out from under their nails later on.

I see this often throughout the country in many different hospitals.

What have you done to question this awful practice?

[K+MgSO4, BSN]

As I am sitting in the CVICU I wish more would glove up. I cringe to watch nurses handle bloody CVCs, icky Foley's, slimy ET tubes with their bare hands. I have watched too many scrape blood off of something with their fingernails and then later on pick the blood out from under their nails later on.

I see this often throughout the country in many different hospitals.

But many of us work in other areas. Today I went and gave meds, did a pre op checklist, set a patient up for lunch etc. Without gloves.

[Kallie3006, ADN]

I only glove with oral meds if it's one I'm allergic to or a chemo med. Basic human interaction, assessment ect unless they are iso I do not glove. Changing briefs, incontinent episode ect I put 2 or 3 on, so when they get dirty I can slip it off during and not have to stop, put new gloves in, and resume.

[Rocknurse, MSN, APRN, NP]

I wear gloves for everything, mainly because everything skeeves me out. I literally can't stand touching anything not knowing what's on it. You go into your patients room to give them meds and invariably they ask you to do something, like pass them their cup or something and then you end up with drool on you or the cup is smeared with old jam or pudding. Bleuch. It makes me retch. Nope...always gloves for me.

[Flatline, BSN, RN]

Sure you don't need to on here. But if you're going to say you do something that contravenes any evidence based practice and any common sense then you should at least expect to get questioned on it.

Wearing gloves for everything is an utter waste of time and costs organisations a lot of money, its harmful for the environment with all that wasted incinerated material.

There is evidence to suggest over use of gloves is actively harmful to patients, multiple studies have shown this, and here.

So whilst you may think you don't need to defend yourself, or that there is 'nothing wrong with it', if you worked on my ward, you absolutely would have to, because I base practice on evidence.

What have you done to question this awful practice?

Unfortunately, due to the nature of my work and politics I am not in a position to question their practice. Most do not realize that I am a nurse.

[Flatline, BSN, RN]

But many of us work in other areas. Today I went and gave meds, did a pre op checklist, set a patient up for lunch etc. Without gloves.

Totally understandable.

I guess from my perspective watching a variety of nurses in a variety of clinical settings throughout the world I do not see extreme caution and barrier use being a problem, usually the lack of caution and lack of barrier use altogether.

[DaveICURN]

Our nursing instructor always taught us, "If it's wet and not yours, wear gloves. Otherwise touch your Pt. There are many things that a gloves hand can hide." I use this practice to this day.