Anyone who has chosen to work in a hospital environment will come across many types of germs, blood and bodily fluids, hazardous materials, and can be exposed to other potential risk factors. Not all patients may seem sick, but there can always be the possibility of a person with broken skin, exposed mucous membranes, or accidental exposure to urine or feces. On the flip side, health care workers themselves may have an illness or disease. For these reasons, it is imperative for all healthcare personnel to wear safety gloves.
Wearing gloves creates a barrier between germs and hands. This lessens the chance of health care workers or patients to be put at risk for further problems with sickness and disease. It is extremely important for hospitals to keep their gloves medical supply stocked with all sizes available, as the right fitting gloves should be available in all rooms and areas where patient care will be occurring.
Gloves come in many sizes, and it is always important to find a pair that is the right fit. When wearing gloves that are too large, one may find it challenging to hold objects and it may increase the odds that germs and other potentially unwanted items can make their way inside of the gloves. If gloves are worn that are too small, rips and tears will likely occur.
For those who oversee stocking their hospital’s gloves medical supply, it is also important to know that there are different gloves for handling certain chemicals and for surgical procedures. There are also gloves needed for patients and hospital staff with latex allergies.
The times and usage for the need to wear gloves depend on every individual situation. There are times when glove usage should be discouraged and can have detrimental effects when used inappropriately. For instance, when hospital staff are transporting patients, and have gloves that could be contaminated, they may be touching elevator buttons that non-hospital personnel needs to access and the possibility of cross-contamination may occur. This can lead to the spread of infection to perfectly healthy individuals. Therefore, the need to properly educate staff members on the correct situations in which to wear gloves is essential.
Many people may get a false sense of security when wearing gloves, and workers may have participated in patient care and not have properly disposed of their gloves. This can be a potential infection control issue. By instilling the proper education about the use of personal protective equipment like gloves, these problems can be minimized and avoided.
At the very minimum, the use of safety gloves in hospitals when there is an anticipation of contact with any potentially infectious material should be taught and executed with extreme care and used under scrutinous OSHA standards.