adamant that they can't function wearing 2 pairs of gloves. No way,
no how, they'll insist. But once you break down the barriers with
education and a double-glove trial, you'll quickly convert the naysay-
ers. Remember, not all clinicians were trained to double-glove, so
adopting the practice may require a change in behavior for some
healthcare workers. But you might find that they'll feel no difference
after double-gloving for as little as 2 weeks. It'll be their new normal,
a learned behavior, just like wearing your seatbelt.
How did double-gloving become my mission? In 2013, right around the
time I went back to school for my BSN, I started working as a quality
and compliance nurse here at the Virginia Commonwealth University
Health System. One of my first projects was to complete a tracer of the
ORs to see how well we were following the surgical safety checklist
and if our nurses, surgical techs and surgeons were wearing the proper
personal protective equipment, including goggles and double-gloves. In
the 4th quarter of 2013, 76% of our OR personnel were double-gloving.
Three-fourths wasn't bad, but we were shooting for 100% compliance
(98-99% actually — attending surgeons and ophthalmologists could opt
out). Here's how we got there and stayed there.
1. Make it mandatory. One of the first things I did was stress
that we weren't looking for volunteers to double-glove. Barrier protec-
tion is mandatory. Anyone working in the room who handles sharp
instruments must wear a two-color indicator system for double-glov-
ing. It never was a matter of if you would double-glove, only when
must be your mindset.
2. Help your team visualize barrier protection. Explain
in graphic terms how double-gloving helps reduce exposure to blood-
borne pathogens. A couple examples:
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