Hand lotion

[deespoohbear]

Our infection control nurse has told us that we are not allowed to bring in our own hand lotion for our PERSONAL use at work. We are suppose to use the stuff supplied by the facility. She says it is because of infection control issues. The facility supplied stuff tears up my hands. It is anti-bacterial and eats my hands. I had to see a dermatologist a couple of years ago and he said all this anti-bacterial stuff is not good for my eczema. He says he knows I can't avoid the anti-bacterial soap at work but to try and stay away from it at home as much as possible. Our infection control nurse said she will actually confiscate any lotion brought from the outside. Does anyone else have a policy such as this? If so do employees abide by it? I would think it would be very hard to enforce and especially if the lotion is in your purse. I would like to see our IC nurse go through my purse. Heads would roll and it would not be mine. Any suggestions?

[SmilingBluEyes]

Keep some Eucerin in your purse or pocket, out of sight. It is scenteless and VERY effective protection for dry hands. Meantime, you may want to initiate documentation on how MANY nurses are facing the same issues. I am with you, our lotions at work tear me up, too. They do more harm than good and as shell says, cracked, irritated skin in and of itself IS an IC issue! DOCUMENT DOCUMENT DOCUMENT and fight your case with this. BE covert in the meantime, using lotion carried in your pocket that has no scent. That's all I can suggest to you.

sjoe: news bulletin: NOT ALL HOSPITALS ARE UNIONIZED!!!! So this won't do Dees a whole lot of good.

[liberalrn]

We have that policy at our hospital and we "malcontents" bring our bootleg lotion in and hide it in our purses.....my illegal substance of choice at the moment is Eucerin cream--very good.

the pseudomonas story is something to consider, but we are talking about individual tubes here--not a multi-person large dispenser. Dunno 'bout the rest of you, but my purse and it's contents I consider clean; I am not about to even so much as touch my purse w/o a thorough handwashing......I usually go from there to charting and from there to prepping meds. Call me Typhoid Lib, but I think I'm OK!

Our ID nurse is a nut--it must be the job. I am with her all the way (except for the lotion) I just hate being treated like I'm 5 and retarded! I think they need inservices in how to tell people things!

[jnette, ASN, EMT-I]

Originally posted by frannybee

The only real reason not to use certain lotions is if they contain petroleum products or mineral oils, then they can degrade the latex in the gloves.

Yeh, we're not to use any lotions containing the above, either.. degrades the gloves which in turn leaves us exposed to biohazards. We keep our lotions in our pocket. Can't leave 'em on the carts in case of "inspection".

I'd like to know how long it takes for gloves to degrade. We change gloves every minute practically ! Surely they don't degrade in a matter of minutes? Dunno.

[das]

I'm beginning to think that it is all Urban Legend. The information I read was bacteria grows in many lotions and is promoted by the ingredients in them. The neonatal pseudo deaths in Detroit were re: to artifical nails. Our IC dept went crazy after that one. We use SoftGUARD hand cream and it actually is pretty good They are trying to develop a policy about scented lotions and soap. I'd like to see that enforce!!!!!!!!!!!!

[jemb]

Current employer and at least one of my former employers say not to use our own soap or lotion. The former employer was far too disorganized to enforce much of anything. The current employer, while periodically reminding us of the rule, is pretty understanding and not strict about enforcing it.

I do recall that it had something to do with lotions promoting infection, but never did know specifically how they did that. Now that you've piqued my curiosity, it's web search time.

[Jolie, BSN]

There were NICU deaths linked to artificial nails, but that occured in Oklahoma, and was not pseudomonas related, although I can't think of the bug off the top of my head. Malasthessia furfur (sp?) possibly.

Anyway, this also sounds like an OSHA issue. Your employer is legally required to provide you with the tools needed to SAFELY carry out your duties. Since dry, cracked hands are a known health hazard to nurses and their patients, I think OSHA would support your right to be provided with lotion appropriate to your skin type and sensitivities. Try floating that balloon at your place of employment.

[P_RN, ADN, RN]

I think Jolie is correct about the nails and the germs in the NICU. I believe that one of the nail wearers also had a facial creme or scrub or something at home that grew those same bugs.

What about getting the dermatologist to Rx you for a lotion. Can she stop your using a prescription?

[disher]

Originally posted by P_RN

What about getting the dermatologist to Rx you for a lotion. Can she stop your using a prescription?

I like this suggestion, first document with your occupational health department that your hands react to the hospital lotion then your employer will be required to support the dermatologist ordered lotion.

[frannybee]

One of the hospitals I did placements in while I was training had to change every hand cleanser pump in the whole hospital when they found that the handwash they'd been using was actually *breeding* pseudomonas. As far as I can remember, triclosan was implicated.

Re: petroleum products and latex, I don't think it's a very fast process, but latex gloves are not uniform in thickness and quality all over - how many times have you pulled on a glove and it's torn even though there were no long fingernails or excessive force to blame? I think the problems would start if you'd used the offending cream and pulled on a glove that had a microscopic fault or weakness that eroded faster than the rest of the glove. That would leave you with holes not visible to the naked eye, but still easily penetrable by micro-organisms.

[NurseGirlKaren]

Originally posted by NightMoonRN

Our infection control nurse came out with a policy that forbids us from using lipgloss in any patient area. We are closet lipglossers! Nail polish is a no-no also.

I hope she doesn't belong to allnurses because hand cream will be next! We'll be doing all our creaming and glossing in the bathroom! Keep it quiet will you?

NO NO NO, you don't understand the infection control issue!! You are not supposed to kiss your patients!! The lip gloss promotes bacterial overgrowth and then you kiss your patient and therefore contaminate them.

Ok, I don't get it. No lip gloss? You've got to be kidding me. What's the issue with lip gloss?

[RNforLongTime]

Originally posted by altomga

At my place of employment we aren't allowed to use our own hand lotions either b/c of "infection control". They say some lotions actually promote bacterial growth due to the ingredients that are in them. They supply us with this less than desirable lotion that to me makes your hands drier than before....but what do we know?

Same at my hospital. But that CHG soap that's plastered on the wall in pt rooms eats at my hands something fierce. Then when I put on that crap lotion they supply, I get a small red pin-point rash on the tops of my hands that burns like heck! Vaseline even makes my hands burn when they get like that. There 's some stuff that we have at work made by Sensicare for skin care that doesn't break me out. And Bath and Body Works True Blue Spa collection, Look Ma New Hands is wonderful!

[liberalrn]

LOL re: the lip gloss! Frankly, you try to come between me and my vaseline or lipstick and someone will get hurt!

I think this glove degradation is an urban myth--you wear the gloves for like 10 minutes, tops. I re and reglove due to soiling or sweating in the latex (hate that feeling). Maybe in OR--but don't they also reglove? And besides, it's well nigh impossible to put gloves on with hands moist from fresh lotion....you wait for it to dry! I will need more substantial evidence before I change my practice.