Gloves at all times?

Nurses General Nursing

Updated:   Published

Snotty Miss Perfect Nurse that's the daughter of a patient chastised us for not wearing gloves during a med pass. "Doesn't anyone around here where gloves anymore?".

Apparently she wears gloves at all times when in a patient's room. I wash in, give my pill, and wash out. I don't wear gloves to pass a medication.

I wanted to snap "and please show me the evidenced based practice that we must do this", but of course I didn't.

I'm also willing to learn to do things differently, I've adapted well to change over the years. Do we wear gloves ever single time we enter a patient's room, even if it's non-contact with the patient other than to pass a pain pill?

Yea

2 Votes
Specializes in ICU/community health/school nursing.

I love these comments. If I'm donning gloves it's probably for my protection... If I'm washing my hands it's for both of us.

5 Votes

They literally taught us the first week of nursing school: “the gloves are for your protection not the patients” unless they are sterile gloves for a sterile procedure, they do nothing for the patient.

4 Votes
Specializes in Pediatrics/CPN.

So I work with students... I tell them your instructor is going to tell you need to wear gloves when giving meds that’s the “utopian” idea in the “real world” med pass does not require gloves. A lot of times gloves are to protect you not the patient. So If I’m going to be In any danger of touching the patient or their mouth ( little old lady can’t get the pill in her mouth, kid needs medicine syringed in) I would wear gloves.

1 Votes
Specializes in LTC, home health, critical care, pulmonary nursing.

I wear gloves to pass meds just because like another poster said, if food service workers do...also there are a lot of meds that gloves are recommended due to the drugs potential for harmful effects to the handler, such as if you’re pregnant or trying to conceive.

2 Votes
2 minutes ago, lovingtheunloved said:

I wear gloves to pass meds just because like another poster said, if food service workers do...also there are a lot of meds that gloves are recommended due to the drugs potential for harmful effects to the handler, such as if you’re pregnant or trying to conceive.

Apples and oranges. Food service workers don't wash their hands like we do. Wearing gloves to pass meds is your choice but it is not required and it certainly does nothing to protect the patients which is what the family freak out was all about. That being said, you need to do what makes you feel most comfortable.

3 Votes
Specializes in Med-Surg, Trauma, Ortho, Neuro, Cardiac.
14 minutes ago, lovingtheunloved said:

I wear gloves to pass meds just because like another poster said, if food service workers do...also there are a lot of meds that gloves are recommended due to the drugs potential for harmful effects to the handler, such as if you’re pregnant or trying to conceive.

Fair enough. But as I said, I don't have contact with the medications. I open them and drop them into (a non-sterile) medicine cup. But I do suppose food service workers that don't touch your food but rather spoon them into your bowl or place still wear gloves so I get that.

1 Votes
Specializes in Cardiovascular.

Just thinking aloud, if the concept is to prevent contaminating the pills, but you just went to the omicell/pyxis and got the meds without gloves so your germs are on the package of the meds, but then you reach into the bulk gloves to get gloves to wear to open and touch the package of the pills doesn't that make the whole original concept moot? Just playing devil's advocate.

Now personally for me, I don't always wear gloves when I pass med. I will if giving something IV or some liquid PO. My thought process is if you're giving meds PO at least there's the whole digestive tract that will help. However as stated in a previous post those clean gloves aren't always the cleanest. This post also reminds me of what one of my RN school prof said "clean gloves protect you, sterile gloves protect the pt" or at least something to that effect ?

1 Votes

Standard precautions do not dictate wearing gloves for passing meds unless one of those meds is an injection or the patient is on contact precaution. It's wasteful (both in time & resources) to use gloves when they aren't needed

3 Votes

I wear gloves 100% of the time when I have to interact/touch anything physical (patient, furniture, keyboard, mouse, bed rails, tables, chairs, etc) in the patient's room. I don't trust the environment in any patient's room, isolation or not. I have witnessed other nurses/CNA/RT/PT/OT providing care to patients and then used their dirty gloved hands to touch clean surfaces that I mentioned up there. Hence, making all physical stuff in the patient's room dirty!

Especially the CNA, when they clean and change patients they sometimes don't change gloves in between. They use the same dirty gloves to wipe patient's buttocks to put on new gowns for patients or to replace new sheets. They even use them same gloves to chart in the patient's room. Sometimes putting dirty linens on computer table, chair, floor, etc.

The patients themselves are also dirty. They scratch their body/private areas, then use the dirty hands to touch all things in the room.

I mean I wash in and wash out, but I guess I'm just paranoid like that... rather be safe than sorry.

2 Votes

Sounds like you need to,do some more teaching/in services on cleanliness. Would be fun and informative if you could take swabs of surfaces and have the lab grow it and see what comes out of it.

2 Votes

You know what they’ll find? The same stuff you get on grocery cart handles, gym equipment, money, ATM buttons, gas pumps, mail, your steering wheel, computer keyboards, food containers from fast food restaurants...should I continue? Unless a person plans to wear gloves every second of their day wearing them unnecessarily at work only adds to the waste we are burying our planet in, adds to the costs of hospitalization that we all bear and does nothing more to protect the wearer than a plain old soap and water scrubbing does. There simply is no justification for it. That being said, if one of my peers wants to glove up the moment they hit the door I’m not going to lose any sleep over it although I might allow myself an internal eye roll.

3 Votes
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