Nurses' inappropriate use of gloves in caring for patients

Asepsis still remains an important part of infection control and sterile gloves are still required in acute wound care and surgical procedures. Some tissue viability practitioners have for many years used unsterile gloves for chronic wound care and this provides a cost-effective method of protection for both the patient and the nurse. However, there are still those nurses who are bound in nursing rituals and find it difficult to discard a practice that has been shown to be costly and unnecessary. At the same time, there is a worrying practice of wearing gloves for all procedures without changing between each patient contact and this can be a dangerous method of introducing cross-infection and increasing the potential for latex allergies. Therefore, the use of gloves must be carefully thought through and the rationale for their use should be based on researched evidence. This article reviews the available evidence.