Walmart cashiers wearing gloves?

[Misstika]

Hi everyone, just curious about others opinion. A few times when visiting walmart, cashiers were wearing gloves. I asked what was the reason for doing so, and they did not want to say. I'm sure its for "avoiding" illnesses but wearing gloves all day without handwashing won't help. I feel as if there's a greater chance of getting an airborne illness. How do you all feel about wearing gloves as a cashier? I somewhat find it annoying and offensive. I feel as if having hand sanitizer at each counter would suffice.

[JadedCPN, BSN, RN]

Its strange to me that you care enough about this to be offended (despite multiple attempts to back track, you definitely made it clear you were offended in your OP), to go out of your way to ask the workers why they wear them on more than one occasion, and then to post about it in a public forum. Weird.

[Hoosier_RN, MSN]

mtmkjr said:

Another example of just a bit of germaphobia - Although handling money does expose them to a lot of nasty germs, I think they'd be fine washing their hands frequently.

Exception: If I had a cut on my hands, I'd wear gloves until it was healed.

They're lucky to get their breaks. Hand washing often? I doubt the company would do it

[mtmkjr, BSN]

Hoosier_RN said:

They're lucky to get their breaks. Hand washing often? I doubt the company would do it

True. My comment fell short of reality. After reading this thread I have more sympathy for checkout folks in general.

[love2banurse89, BSN, RN]

They probably don't even know why they're wearing them; maybe management told them to or they all read *something on the internet* that said something that made them want to wear gloves. Who knows? If I was feeling friendly I might educate them on better ways to prevent illness--using hand sanitizer, not touching their faces, etc.

[Kooky Korky, BSN, RN]

Misstika said:

Hi everyone, just curious about others opinion. A few times when visiting walmart, cashiers were wearing gloves. I asked what was the reason for doing so, and they did not want to say. I'm sure its for "avoiding" illnesses but wearing gloves all day without handwashing won't help. I feel as if there's a greater chance of getting an airborne illness. How do you all feel about wearing gloves as a cashier? I somewhat find it annoying and offensive. I feel as if having hand sanitizer at each counter would suffice.

Bugs are smart to grow resistant to all of the sanitizers we now use. Let 'em wear gloves. they should have masks, too, changed q few hours.

[Kooky Korky, BSN, RN]

mtmkjr said:

True. My comment fell short of reality. After reading this thread I have more sympathy for checkout folks in general.

They likely get to potty more than a nurse does.

[Sour Lemon]

Kooky Korky said:

They likely get to potty more than a nurse does.

Wrong.

[Davey Do]

This is so cool:

QuietIsntAWord said:

¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Who knows...

[CheriNelson]

I live and practice in Southwest Florida. In this particular area there is an abundance of "Gentlmen's Clubs". I was shocked when someone mentioned how most small bills around here have been in contact with a stripper's body! Years back the Tampa Tribune mentioned the prevalence of bill's testing positive for traces of illicit drugs. Some cashiers may take this more seriously than others. I make it a practice to pay with my debit card, if possible. And I personally wash my hands after handling money.

Just my take on it.

[Rainbow_RN, BSN, RN]

Well, who knows what those $1 bills have touched.... It's a step in the right direction.

[Suzey]

I think they wear them because it's hard to count bills when they are sticking together, your hands get dry and you may miscount because you can't get them apart, also to avoid paper cuts. When I had to open boxes to stock at a job, I wore gloves so I wouldn't tear my hands up.

[angel0309, ADN, RN]

Current Walmart Cashier here, a lot of my coworkers wear gloves because meat (especially chicken) tends to leak and probably about 85% of people don't put their meat into bags. If some of those lovely chicken juices get on your hands, you're stuck ringing up people's clothes and other food items with your chicken covered hands, since when you call someone to relieve you for a restroom break it can take upwards of 15 minutes. However, if you're wearing gloves and you get chicken juices on your hands, you can just change out your gloves and not spread the juices to other items.