Gloves? Is this acceptable?

Nurses General Nursing

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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?

Specializes in Emergency, Telemetry, Transplant.
You've made a really weird leap here where you're equating random strangers in a toilet to the nurse-patient relationship.

First of all, I agree with everything you said in your post. This is based on me going to my doctor's office, not really in a hospital: I don't really feel 'uncomfortable' if someone wears gloves to take my BP, but I certainly don't expect them to glove up; plus, I would rather them not waste the gloves. Besides, I probably got a lot worse things on me by touching the elevator buttons, by being brushed up against by another patient when I held the door for them, by touching the door knob, picking up the magazine in the waiting room, using a pen to sign the HIPAA form, etc.

I got so caught up in the burger analogy that I didn't even really think about a random person touching me in the bathroom. :nono:

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Specializes in Practice educator.
Isn't that interesting that some people would feel uncomfortable with gloves while they're getting their genitals washed, wound dressing changed or blood drawn? And by interesting I mean ������. And I use gloves when clearing off the bedside table as the wipes I've used are carcinogenic. Plus a lot of people just put their used tissues there....

Haha, yeah those 2 people concern me.

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Specializes in Psychiatry, Community, Nurse Manager, hospice.

I was taught in nursing school to wear gloves when giving oral meds. Did so at my first job. Nurses said "Aww, aren't you cute with your gloves on." So that was the end of that.

But I was also taught not to wear gloves for every single thing in nursing school. Just for passing meds and anytime you might touch something wet.

So, no gloves for helping a patient ambulate. No gloves while ascultating the heart and breath sounds, gloves when handling dirty linens, gloves when suctioning, etc.

My health assessment prof pointed out that wearing gloves could interfere with your ability to detect heat, texture etc so it was a no no during assessment unless the area was infected or open.

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Isn't that interesting that some people would feel uncomfortable with gloves while they're getting their genitals washed, wound dressing changed or blood drawn? And by interesting I mean ������. And I use gloves when clearing off the bedside table as the wipes I've used are carcinogenic. Plus a lot of people just put their used tissues there....

I wondered about those 2 people as well... :rolleyes: just guessing there were a few who didn't understand the question!

It is interesting to see an actual survey, and in fact, even though I don the gloves less often than many, I see maybe I should use them even less.

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Had you explained this from the get go, the response would have been much different. Don't blame us because you left out highly pertinent details.

I thought it was a known fact that I work in a Trauma/Neuro/Surgical ICU.

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Specializes in OR, Nursing Professional Development.
I thought it was a known fact that I work in a Trauma/Neuro/Surgical ICU.

There are over 1,000,000 registered members. It is impossible to remember where each member works unless it is part of the username.

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I put on gloves with the majority of my med passes because I know I'll be emptying urinals, hats, throwing away tissues, sputum cups etc. as soon as I finish the med pass.

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Specializes in med surg.
To the OP.

Never be sorry to ask a question. I'm sorry if you feel like it's not welcome - it is.

Please ask questions. That's what we are here for - perspective and opinions. :cool:

Simple answer. Nursing is tough. Everyone does things different. This is not a hill to surrender on. You got this.

The first few months I could not have found my ass with GPS, compass, Google Maps and a bread crumb trail. To glove or not and when - as long as they are on the wall and you can readily grab them and the wet, sticky stuff that does not belong to you stays off you and you never touch it - yay gloves!!

I was awkward around patients. I didn't know what to do with myself at time. Organization, gloves, alcohol pads, saline flushes, scanning, documentation. Heck, I'm lucky I didn't kill lots of people. Whew!!

It gets better.

Onward intrepid angel!

You will be great, gloved or not - check policy, be comfortable.

:angel:

Omg this is me. 3 days in and I'm miserable. Not to mention I'm tired as hell from night shift. I was doing a patient admit and felt like I couldn't even talk. I'm a mess. My coworkers probably think I'm a idiot. I don't know why I feel so uncomfortable but I pray it gets better. I bartended and served food for years and I thought I'd still at least have those people skills. But nope. I'm all nerves. Just doing vitals I feel like a bull in a china closet, getting tangle up on stuff!!

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I guess I'm missing something but why do you think you have to wear gloves 100% of the time? Gloves do not need to be worn to prepare or pass oral meds with a few exceptions that would be indicated on the packaging if they are dangerous to handle. Unless your patient is in isolation precautions or you are anticipating coming into contact with bodily fluids you do not need to glove up. I'm not sure if that is some overly-cautious and wasteful policy at your institution or where you went to school, but it is unnecessary. Hope that helps clear things up.

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Specializes in ICU.

I always glove any time I enter a patient's room with the intention of touching anything, PO meds included. This is both for my sake as well as my patient's sake. If I was a patient I wouldn't want a nurse bare-handed handling medications that I was about to take. And on the flip side who knows what surfaces in the room are contaminated with what. I've seen enough patients covered from head to toe in poop to know that there really is no such thing as a clean/safe surface in a hospital room unless you wipe it clean yourself.

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Specializes in Critical Care.
I always glove any time I enter a patient's room with the intention of touching anything, PO meds included. This is both for my sake as well as my patient's sake. If I was a patient I wouldn't want a nurse bare-handed handling medications that I was about to take. And on the flip side who knows what surfaces in the room are contaminated with what. I've seen enough patients covered from head to toe in poop to know that there really is no such thing as a clean/safe surface in a hospital room unless you wipe it clean yourself.

This isn't necessarily a question directed specifically at you since a number of people have had the same response, but why are you touching the patient's medications when transferring them from a blister pack to a cup?

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Specializes in Critical Care.

There was an episode of 'How It's Made' last night about Lasik eye surgery, the surgeon not only didn't wear sterile gloves but wore no gloves at all through the entire surgery, so there seems to be no consensus on when gloves are considered a requirement.

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