When do you wear eye protection?

corky1272RN · May 17, 2009

supposed to wear eye protection/mask/gown/glove (ppe) when you may come in contact with blood/body fluids but the true fact is most nurses don't. if a nurse wore the right ppe everytime she came in contact with blood /body fluids, she might as well just not take it off. it is not always practical. she (or he, sorry) just takes the risk of being sprayed in the face or eyes, just not gloving up. :smilecoffeeilovecof

keithjones · May 17, 2009

this is a concern for me considering everything ends up in my eyes ... and i wear glasses. go figure!

ACRN06 · May 18, 2009

I put them on for all traumas coming in, sometimes tho they're not always bloody so you don't always need em, but I keep em on in case, never know when they'll suddenly sit up in bed and hurl one in your direction or an IV be yanked out and blood splattered. I don't THINK its the norm for nurses not to wear em during traumas! I hope not! Its not where I work anyway...

I also wear em for any wound irrigations and nasal washes.

Those are the main ones that come to mind offhand.

bjaeram · May 18, 2009

Always because I wear glasses!! Kind of convienent

Amxixi29 · May 18, 2009

There was a code today when I worked. Amid all the chaos someone yelled the pt is HIV + ! Then all of a sudden face masks with the splash guards were passed out and put on by the Docs and RNs working close to the pt. I've seen a couple of codes and this is the first time EVERYONE put something on.

I remember another time when a resident was putting in a PD drain on a pt and somehow peritoneal fluid squirted into one of his eyes. We had his head over a sink and irrigated his eye with saline to flush the fluid out. It was pretty uncomfortable for him...

ThrowEdNurse, BSN, RN · May 18, 2009

Only for arterial bleeds/bleeding shunts, etc.

thinkertdm · May 18, 2009

Honestly, if you should be wearing eye protection, but don't, and you become infected, then I don't feel sorry for you. Really, benefits should be denied for those people.

It is your responsibility as a nurse to make sure that everyone is safe.

Editorial Team / Moderator · May 19, 2009

I've been thinking about buying some eye protection for myself -- I can't wear the safety glasses we have in our ED because my face is small/narrow, and they slide right off my face. We had a patient with ruptured esophageal varices (Mr. Blood Geyser, seriously), and I had a heck of a time keeping the glasses on my face. Anyone have any suggestions?

linda2097 · May 19, 2009

I've been thinking about buying some eye protection for myself -- I can't wear the safety glasses we have in our ED because my face is small/narrow, and they slide right off my face. We had a patient with ruptured esophageal varices (Mr. Blood Geyser, seriously), and I had a heck of a time keeping the glasses on my face. Anyone have any suggestions?

Go to a bicycle shop. They have a variety of clear sunglasses. Or go to an eyeglass shop and buy glasses that fit you that have non prescription lenses. You'll get to choose from many styles this way. But try to get big glasses to cover your eyes as much as possible.

linda2097 · May 19, 2009

Another thing you can do is get one of those straps that attach to your goggles and pull them tight so your goggles never come off.

Medic09, BSN, RN, EMT-P · May 20, 2009

Not often enough. Really.

Since I wear eyeglasses, I've gotten complacent and skip the shields or goggles. Eyeglasses are NOT sufficient protection, but many of us trust them all the same. I need to find some goggles or some such that I like to work in, that fit easily over my glasses.

When I wore contacts as a medic, I wore sport glasses. Since I'm pretty committed now to eyeglasses, I need a better solution. Maybe a dedicated pair of prescription sport glasses, though that would be pretty expensive; especially with progressive lenses.