Latex and powder free gloves...

[Eriseth]

... are the bane of my existence.

I am "blessed" with moist hands. If making handshaking and other situations awkward is being blessed. Either way, my ever moist hands make these and most gloves a nearly impossible to get into. I'm neither allergic to latex nor the powder but I don't want to carry around my own gloves for fear of patient allergies. Anyone else have this problem? How do you deal with it? I've thought about carrying around a small container of lotion with me to lube my hands up so to speak. I don't know how practical that is. Any suggestions?

[CoffeemateCNA]

Some people I have worked with bought small travel-sized bottles of baby powder to keep in their pockets. Whenever they would need to put on gloves, they went into the bathroom and shook some powder on their hands over the sink and then put the gloves on.

[juliaann]

Can you request your facility order some powdered gloves? We have *all sorts* of gloves since we have employees with allergies and even just preferences of glove brand/type. If CS doesn't have it, they order it. We have a wide selection in our clean supply - the cheapest gloves go in racks in the hallways and inside the patient rooms for a quick grab, but we can use any kind we want from our clean supply. Some nurses just snag a box of the type/size they use and keep it in their locker, and then put some pairs in a small lab/biohazard bag and keep the bag of gloves in their pocket all day, refilling as needed. CNAs will keep a box of the size and type they like on their cart. I guess that's a perk to working at a large facility, getting the gloves you like is really easy.

I think you could supply your own gloves without it causing a problem...gloves are gloves. If the patient is allergic to latex, won't that be obvious on their chart and armband? Just know what types of gloves you have and be concious of that sort of thing - just the same as you would if you were using your facility's gloves. I suppose you could run it by your supervisor if you're concerned, but I'm sure they'd rather you have gloves that are comfortable and easy to put on than risk you not taking the time to glove up if you're in a hurry (not to say that you would do that, of course, but anything to keep up good percentage of precaution use is generally something managers like).

[SlightlyMental_RN]

I have a similar problem, and I've found that rubbing the alcohol-based cleanser until dry, and then quickly putting on the gloves works. If my hands are really sweating, I dry them first with a paper towel, and then do the alcohol-based cleanser.

[oregonchinamom]

You can also get Botox treatments for overly sweaty hands. I think that since this is greatly affecting your work, you could make a case for insurance payment.