2Degs

I work in a nursery and have a few questions regarding handling breastmilk, changing infant diapers, feeding. Most of our RN's do not wear gloves for these things . What is recommended? I know that intact skin is a great barrier to any infectious disease, but should our confidence be based soley on that belief or should our RN's routinely wear gloves for these activities? Most of our pregnant women are tested prenatally and we have an idea of their HIV status at an early gestation, however things can happen during the rest of the pregnancy. Many of our nurses get their confidence from this early testing alone as well as presence of other high risk behaviors. What is best practice? OSHA has guidelines in regards to all bodily fluids, but most of our nurses to do not follow these guidelines when it comes to working in the nursery. There are a few nurses who wear gloves and a few that have made statements like, " I wear gloves for all contact with breastmilk. We wash our hands a lot and breastmilk can contain HIV and you never know if you have small cuts in your skin from washing so much. " Is this comment over the top or is it in line with what most nurses believe. Want to start a good discussion :)