Gloves required for ALL oral meds.

[Leonardos]

So I work in a Mental Hospital in Wisconsin, and there's a new policy that gloves are required for all oral meds. So you have to use sanitizer, put on gloves, give pills, take off gloves, use sanitizer, put on gloves, etc. Putting on new gloves for every single patient (20+) in a row, regardless of what medications they take, hazardous or not. And not just normal gloves, more expensive Nitrile gloves. And then I was told for crushed meds you will have to wear a mask, and some meds you will have to gown up completely.

Is anyone else seeing this at their workplace?

[zoidberg, BSN, RN]

We have new policies as well. New rules only apply to hazardous meds. We now use gloves when giving intact oral hazardous medications. We are to wear a mask if crushing a hazardous med. I would need to re-read the policy, but I think gowns are used when priming IV chemo or something of the sort. There are new waste containers for all packaging as well.

[Tenebrae, BSN, RN]

Ask for that policy in writing

In my last facility my clinical manager told my CNAs they were only allowed to use two pairs of gloves in a shift. I told them to use as many pairs of gloves as they needed to deliver safe patient care

[kbrn2002, ADN, RN]

Ridiculous. It sounds like someone with OCD is in charge of your infection control department.

I'd like to see healthcare start to reduce our outrageous impact on our environment. The amount of waste of the Mother Earth's resources and trash produced is a sin, in my opinion.

That was my first thought as well. The local landfill is going to be full of nitrile gloves in no time! What ding dong came up with this bright idea?

[kbrn2002, ADN, RN]

NIOSH is issuing new guidelines regarding handling a disposal of hazardous drugs, so lots of institutions are changing their policies. The gown sounds like overkill for non-hazardous drugs, but I've always gloved for all drugs and my hospital switched to nitrile gloves a year or two ago because they are chemo-safe (even though most floors don't even give chemo, the patient could then be transferred to any floor).

I couldn't even tell you how many pairs of gloves I go through in a shift. On the other hand, I don't particularly want any transdermal exposure or to give the patient a sticky pill if my hand is still a little damp.

Wondering why you are actually handling the pills? This is kind of a big no-no where I work. The meds go directly from their packaging into a med cup, they are never touched by the nurse.

[psu_213, BSN, RN]

Many patients prefer it.

Just because a pt prefers it does not mean nurses should do it. I had a patient who demanded everyone who enters the room to be wearing an isolation gown. She was not on any isolation precautions, yet she demanded that everyone from the nurse, to the tech, to the dietary aide, to the volunteer delivering 'get well" cards wear a gown when crossing the threshold into the room. Talk about a waste of space in the land fill; not to mention, a waste of time and money. The pt and I had a pleasant chat and ground rules were established...i.e., under normal circumstances, people were not going to come into the room wearing a gown.

[Leonardos]

Well in hindsight I can see that it sounded insensitive, but like I said that's just what people call it around here. My post wasn't about where I work, it was a question about PPE policy. With all the experience you have I would think you'd have some worthwhile feedback on my question and if you do I'd like to hear it. Or are you just on this site to insult/criticize other nurses?

[Leonardos]

I'm VERY grown up and remain skeptical.

Well in hindsight I can see that it sounded insensitive, but like I said that's just what people call it around here. My post wasn't about where I work, it was a question about PPE policy. With all the experience you have I would think you'd have some worthwhile feedback on my question and if you do I'd like to hear it. Or are you just on this site to insult/criticize other nurses?

[Emergent, RN]

Well, I had no idea that "mental institute" was now considered politically incorrect. Around here we refer to ours by their nicknames ie: Eastern or Western.

What's the new, proper terminology these days?

[psu_213, BSN, RN]

Well, I had no idea that "mental institute" was now considered politically incorrect. Around here we refer to ours by their nicknames ie: Eastern or Western.

What's the new, proper terminology these days?

We refer to the closest psych facility by the shortened form of its name or by its initials. To me "mental hospital" has a bit of a negative connotation to it, but that is just my opinion...not that "psych hospital" sounds all that much better.

[Leonardos]

Ask for that policy in writing

In my last facility my clinical manager told my CNAs they were only allowed to use two pairs of gloves in a shift. I told them to use as many pairs of gloves as they needed to deliver safe patient care

Two pairs of gloves in a shift! Holy infection control disaster.

[Leonardos]

This seems as likely to have something to do with potential hazardous exposure as infection control. It sounds off the rails though. You should find out which of the two is the likely source of concern so that you can research related facts.

ETA: yep - morte beat me to it.

Yes from what I've read in the new policy it's not about infection control but preventing exposure to hazardous drugs. My argument is we already know which drugs are hazardous so why not just wear gloves for those meds, which is already in practice. It's complete overkill.

[Leonardos]

We refer to the closest psych facility by the shortened form of its name or by its initials. To me "mental hospital" has a bit of a negative connotation to it, but that is just my opinion...not that "psych hospital" sounds all that much better.

Well I didn't want to mention the name of my facility since I'm criticizing their policies.

And yeah it can be a delicate subject with what's okay to say and what's not, especially when talking to the patients.