surgical staff directly involved or assisting at the operating field, you
must have zero tolerance for the well-worn excuses you'll hear: too
tight, too thick, too bulky, too cumbersome, loss of sensation, cuts off
my circulation.
Not long after we made double-gloving mandatory, I spotted a surgi-
cal tech who wasn't wearing 2
pairs of gloves. When I asked
him why, he said he was wor-
ried that he'd stick himself
while passing suture or picking
up instruments because of the
"bulky and tight" double gloves.
This is the kind of pushback
you can expect, even though
wearing double gloves has been
proven to significantly decrease
sharps exposures, as in the
study that found that the under-
glove reduced exposure to
patient blood by as much as
87% when the outer glove is
punctured.
Hearts and minds
Yes, gloves are a very sensitive
subject for your surgeons and
staff. And rightfully so. Those
who make their living in the
OR are very touchy about their
sense of touch. Some will be
4 8 • O U T PA T I E N T S U R G E R Y M A G A Z I N E • A P R I L 2 0 1 7
More than half (54%) of the 300
online poll respondents feel both
surgeons and staff should be
required to double-glove.
Double-gloving should be
mandatory for _____ .
• surgeons 13%
• staff 3%
• surgeons and staff 54%
• neither 30%
SOURCE: Outpatient Surgery Magazine
InstaPoll, March 2017, n=300
MANDATORY
DOUBLE-GLOVING
Should
Double-Gloving
Be Required?
InstaPoll
O
S
M
