I was shadowing a nurse yesterday at a facility who happened to be a veteran nurse ( 60 years or older). Well, a pt. fell and was bleeding from her had. I witnessed the fall, so I called for help and made sure the pt. stayed put until helped arrived. The nurse I was shadowing came and started to apply pressure to the pts. head without gloves, the pts. blood was all over the nurses' hand. I felt bad that I didn't do that... but ultimately my health comes first and I'm not touching blood without gloves.
As we were doing wound care she still didn't wear gloves. She said back in her day she has touched so many things with her bear hands that sometimes she doesn't wear them.
I understand that is how she is used to practicing.
Specializes in Critical Care, ED, Cath lab, CTPAC,Trauma.
What she did would not meet standard of care for back in the misty eons of time. Having poop or blood on my hands was just as undesirable then as it is now.
There is usually some type of clean cloth or other absorbent material nearby. I really can't think of a time when any nurse would do wound care or use their bare hand (or their bear hand rawr!! :) to put pressure on a wound.
I can't remember a time when we weren't mindful about that --- not with the same amount of fear but the protection would be something like an alcohol swab, gauze, a washcloth, the barrel of a syringe, etc. We used the nastiest Betadine soap in the world to wash our hands with, too. Damn near stripped off my skin and turned my rings a horrible color.
This reminds of an article I read a loonnnnnggg time ago that documented the first case of a nurse becoming infected with HIV. What happened was a nurse applied pressure to a bleeding IV site with a stack of gauze that eventually bled through but the nurse had been gardening the day before and had multiple small cuts and breaks in the skin. They felt the pressure she applied in combination with the breaks in her skin was enough to transmit the virus.
Back before the HIV stuff.....we really didn't wear gloves. It all started in the early eighties with the glove wearing stuff....:) We were taught to handle the dressing by the corners only maintaing sterility of the dressings being placed on the wounds. It was all about "touch" and not letting the patient feel "alienated" and "isolated". Wearing gowns in isolation were only for reverse or sterile isolation. wounds were never isolated....yuk
MRSA, VRE, C.diff. Many, many healthcare workers DO NOT wash their hands in between patients unfortunately.
And that's the problem right there, as has been proved. And they are sticking their resistant-bacteria-smeared fingers in their pockets, on their scrubs, and in the glove box.
Many things can be prevented with wearing gloves to spread transmission. I still believe gloves protect the patient and healthcare worker. This may not be as necessary if everyone washed their hands after each patient.
If I was the patient, I would be the one asking the nurse to wash her hands before she touched me. Wearing gloves without washing hands is not the answer and may even cause an increase in infection because nurses (and other healthcare workers in direct contact with patients) hold tight to a belief unsupported by evidence that gloves offer more protection than they really do. Me, I'd prefer clean hands. Nurses should wash their hands before and after each patient contact, regardless if they are wearing gloves.
Specializes in Critical Care, ED, Cath lab, CTPAC,Trauma.
As you wish ...
Maslow, anyone??
Hyperbole like this generally means a thread has run its course.
Agreed.... BUt his name "Now I'm clean" speaks volumes.....NO offense meant, just that some people have their issues with germs with or without the presence of gloves. I never take offense. If a patient dosen't want me for any reason to be their nurse......I'm not insecure.....I'll just go get someone else.
And that's the problem right there, as has been proved. And they are sticking their resistant-bacteria-smeared fingers in their pockets, on their scrubs, and in the glove box.
If I was the patient, I would be the one asking the nurse to wash her hands before she touched me. Wearing gloves without washing hands is not the answer and may even cause an increase in infection because nurses (and other healthcare workers in direct contact with patients) hold tight to a belief unsupported by evidence that gloves offer more protection than they really do. Me, I'd prefer clean hands. Nurses should wash their hands before and after each patient contact, regardless if they are wearing gloves.
This. You've said it perfectly. Our patients have been told at admission that it's acceptable to ask every person that touches them if they've washed their hands. I haven't seen anyone ask but I know I would be. We are told we have to wash before entering a room. Okay, nothing wrong with that except in older hospitals they didn't build sinks outside each room. The hospital has put alcohol gel outside every room plus inside the room too is gel. So now we've had 'secret shoppers' that have watched to see if everyone entering a room is "washing" their hands and this information is published hospital wide and the unit with the highest score gets a prize . Problem is I think most healthcare workers are using the gel but rarely washing their hands.
I was stopped in the hallway recently by my NM upon exiting a pt room. She said, "excuse me but I didn't see you wash your hands (gel) when you left that room". My response, "excuse me, but I washed my hands in the sink in the pt room immediately before exiting and without touching anything after I washed and I don't think it's needed to use gel just so I can make sure someone sees me". Her response= silence.
Agreed.... BUt his name "Now I'm clean" speaks volumes.....NO offense meant, just that some people have their issues with germs with or without the presence of gloves. I never take offense. If a patient dosen't want me for any reason to be their nurse......I'm not insecure.....I'll just go get someone else.
Really,really???? What volumes does it speak? Just like you I chose my username, and I did it as a reminder to myself. Everyday I log on here I use my name to log on now im clean.... when you live in the world of alcolholism and by the grace of GOD you are able to break those chains and discover the gift of sobriety not only are you thankful but you are proud of each day sober. I like so many people in this world suffer from addiction my drug of choice is alcohol something you can legally buy in just about any store, but unlike many I discovered I had a problem and got help. Hence now imclean.
"Wow people can act like such germ-a-phobes but it's interesting to watch these same people contaminate themselves by touching their eye after touching a keyboard, phone, dropping their pen on the floor without sanitizing it before using etc. Not saying anyone here would do anything like that."
True...most people handle money without giving it a second thought.
Specializes in Critical Care, ED, Cath lab, CTPAC,Trauma.
Agreed.... BUt his name "Now I'm clean" speaks volumes.....NO offense meant, just that some people have their issues with germs with or without the presence of gloves. I never take offense. If a patient dosen't want me for any reason to be their nurse......I'm not insecure.....I'll just go get someone else.
Really,really???? What volumes does it speak? Just like you I chose my username, and I did it as a reminder to myself. Everyday I log on here I use my name to log on now im clean.... when you live in the world of alcolholism and by the grace of GOD you are able to break those chains and discover the gift of sobriety not only are you thankful but you are proud of each day sober. I like so many people in this world suffer from addiction my drug of choice is alcohol something you can legally buy in just about any store, but unlike many I discovered I had a problem and got help. Hence now imclean.
It was a joke.......I really meant no offense, I was teasing. Of course I had NO idea of your personal troubles and I meant no disrespect. You should be proud of being clean and sober......many don't have the strength nor the belief in GOD. I was ribbing you.....you talked about running from an ungloved finger and your name is "now im clean" was too good to resist.....I am sorry you were offended but I meant no harm. Sometimes my unusual ED nurse humor doesn't translate well and isn't understood.....
So I put on gloves to protect the patient from my dirty filthy hands. Of course, the gloves that are "protecting" the patient from my dirty filthy hands just immediately prior had my dirty filthy hands all over them.
Then again this sort of reminds me of the red bags and people throwing away anything with a drop of blood on it in them or a foley when unless something is bloody and pretty soaked, it's not necessary. But I see nurses refuse to throw stuff in a normal trashcan all the time because it makes them feel better, although it's a huge waste of money.
Yep, then they go to the restroom to change their used feminine hygiene products and dump that right in the regular garbage without a second thought. (Just like everyone women in America does at home too). Really what's the difference.
Specializes in Trauma Surgery, Nursing Management.
I'm still trying to figure out how I can autoclave my shoes, scrubs, lab coat, etc. when I get home from work. :) I am a self confessed germ-o-phobe, and wish that I could overcome this. I am not quite as bad as the character on "What About Bob", but sort of close to the character in "Monk". Yeah, I know...crazy.
I worked with a nurse in the OR who took bloody lap sponges out of the kickbucket with his bare hands. It grossed me out to the point of nausea. When I immediately said something to him, he laughed about it and told me that he 'ain't scared of a little blood, sweetcakes'. He prides himself on telling tales of hair-raising adventures and swaggers like he is THE Ultimate Bad-A$$. (Insert eye rolling here...you will be among a large group of eye rollers.) I told him that he may not be scared of it, but he is contaminating everything in the room. I instructed him to do a full 2 minute surgical scrub after he touched the bloody lap pads and BEFORE he touches the computer keyboard that we ALL use to document! (He was going out to the scrub sink to rinse his hands, not WASH his hands.) I insisted that he sanitize the door handle that was contaminated by his "ain't scared of a little blood" hands as he went to the scrub sink. He wears gloves now because he got tired of doing 2 minute scrubs. The surgeon I was working with had a few words for Renegade Nurse Man too.
Thankfully, there are few nurses that are resistant to wearing gloves. Those that don't take a minute to don gloves and wash their hands SCARE ME.
I don't step into my house wearing my hospital shoes. I take them off on the front porch, then go inside in my socks, retrieve my can of Lysol, then I spray the bottoms of my shoes til their soaked with Lysol, then put them in my shoe closet inside. Our nursing school teacher had a friend who regularly wore her hospital shoes in her house. Her diabetic husband developed MRSA on his toe - ended up with an amputation. They're pretty sure it came from her shoes.
. BUt his name "Now I'm clean" speaks volumes.....NO offense meant, just that some people have their issues with germs with or without the presence of gloves. I never take offense. If a patient dosen't want me for any reason to be their nurse......I'm not insecure.....I'll just go get someone else.
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Altra, BSN, RN
6,255 Posts
As you wish ...
Maslow, anyone??
Hyperbole like this generally means a thread has run its course.