Like you, I am also new and green. I am a nursing student, and in my experience so far, I have been told that using alcohol pads, or even if the patient uses Purell before performing the blood glucose testing, that it can actually cause the reading to be inaccurate and too high. Apparently, it is better to just rub the site with a clean, dry tissue before lancing it. I don't think it is anything to be worried about.:)