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Hand hygiene

Hand hygiene

Asepsis is the practice of preventing or breaking the chain of infection. The nurse employs aseptic techniques to prevent the spread of microorganisms and reduce the risk of diseases. Hand hygiene is the cornerstone of aseptic techniques and is classified into medical and surgical asepsis. Medical asepsis includes hand hygiene and the use of gloves. Surgical asepsis, or the sterile technique, refers to practices that render and keep objects and areas free of microorganisms.
Hand washing...

PPE Use in Healthcare Settings II: Doffing

PPE Use in Healthcare Settings II: Doffing

The sequence of removing or doffing PPE starts with the gloves, as they are the most contaminated. Next is removal of the face shield or goggles, as they would interfere with removing other PPE. Then remove the gown, followed by the mask or respirator. Perform hand hygiene between steps if hands become contaminated and immediately after removing all PPE. Generally, the outside front and sleeves of the isolation gown, the goggles or the mask, the respirator, and the face shield are contaminated.

Standard Precaution

Standard Precaution

Standard precautions are the minimum infection control safeguards used while caring for all patients, irrespective of their disease condition. They help prevent the spread of common infectious microorganisms to healthcare workers, patients, and visitors in all healthcare settings.
Hand hygiene is the most crucial means to prevent the transmission of disease. Employers are legally required to provide their workers with personal protective equipment (PPE) to minimize exposure or contact with...

Handwashing III: During the Procedure and Post-Procedure Steps

Handwashing III: During the Procedure and Post-Procedure Steps

To wash hands properly, follow these steps:

Handwashing II: Pre-procedure and Initial Procedure Steps

Handwashing II: Pre-procedure and Initial Procedure Steps

The pre-procedure steps of handwashing include removing jewelry and rolling up sleeves. However, many organizations allow staff to wear wedding rings.
The hand washing procedure itself includes the following steps. First, cover cuts, if any, on hands with a waterproof dressing. Cuts and abrasions can become contaminated with bacteria hindering the ability to clean the area thoroughly. In addition, repeated hand washing can worsen an injury. The nails must be short and clean, without nail paint...

Asepsis

Asepsis

The condition of being free from disease-causing living pathogens is asepsis. Aseptic techniques include a set of standard practices to achieve asepsis. An example is the regular environmental cleaning of all parts of the healthcare facility and hand hygiene at home before preparing or eating food. Medical and surgical asepsis in healthcare practice protects patients from harmful pathogens, minimizes the risk of contamination of susceptible sites, and reduces the risk of infection transmission.

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Related Experiment Video

Updated: May 12, 2026

Intraspinal Cell Transplantation for Targeting Cervical Ventral Horn in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis and Traumatic Spinal Cord Injury

Intraspinal Cell Transplantation for Targeting Cervical Ventral Horn in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis and Traumatic Spinal Cord Injury

Published on: September 18, 2011

Removing Outer Gloves as a Method to Reduce Spinal Surgery Infection.

Amina Rehman¹, Atiq-Ur Rehman, Tausif-Ur Rehman

¹*Aga Khan Medical University, Karachi, Pakistan †Department of Neurosurgery, King Fahd Specialists Hospital, Al-Qassim, Saudi Arabia ‡Department of Neurosurgery, St. Francis Medical Center, Topeka, KS.

Journal of Spinal Disorders & Techniques

|April 9, 2013

Summary

Changing gloves before instrument use significantly reduced surgical site infections in lumbar spinal fusion patients. This simple intervention lowers infection rates, improving patient outcomes after this common procedure.

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Last Updated: May 12, 2026

Intraspinal Cell Transplantation for Targeting Cervical Ventral Horn in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis and Traumatic Spinal Cord Injury

Intraspinal Cell Transplantation for Targeting Cervical Ventral Horn in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis and Traumatic Spinal Cord Injury

Published on: September 18, 2011

Area of Science:

Orthopedic Surgery
Infectious Disease Prevention
Surgical Safety Protocols

Background:

Postoperative infection is a significant complication of posterior lumbar spine fusion, with rates up to 9%.
Staphylococcus aureus, often from skin flora, is a common pathogen, implicating surgical gloves in pathogen transfer.
Current protocols may not sufficiently mitigate the risk of intraoperative contamination.

Purpose of the Study:

To evaluate the efficacy of a specific glove change protocol in reducing postoperative infection rates.
To determine if removing the outer glove before handling instrumentation impacts infection rates.
To identify a simple, cost-effective method to enhance surgical site infection prevention.

Main Methods:

A retrospective cohort study involving 389 patients undergoing lumbar spinal fusion.
Patients were divided into a control group (standard protocol) and a treatment group (outer glove removal before instrumentation).
Infection rates were compared between groups up to one year postoperatively.

Main Results:

The treatment group showed a statistically significant reduction in infection rates.
Infection rates decreased from 3.35% in the control group to 0.48% in the treatment group (P=0.0369).
The glove change intervention demonstrated a substantial decrease in postoperative infections.

Conclusions:

Removing the outer glove before handling instrumentation is a simple and effective infection control measure.
This practice offers a cost-effective strategy to reduce the burden of postoperative infections in lumbar spinal fusion.
The findings support the adoption of this protocol to improve patient safety.