thick) of latex-free
indicator gloves as
well as light-colored
outermost gloves.
After surgeons and
staff chose the gloves
they preferred, we
asked them to double-
glove for a few cases.
We then recorded
their sizes and their
feedback in a prefer-
ence log.
Proper sizing is critical. A frequent comment we heard: "The inner-
most glove was a little tight. Let me try the next size." Nothing's more
miserable than wearing 2 tight, constricting gloves. You may think
you're a size 7, but instead you're a 6
1
⁄2 or 7
1
⁄2. Don't assume everybody
will know what size double-gloving system will fit them best. A good
rule-of-thumb: Go up a half size on the innermost glove and stick to
your true size on the outermost glove.
4. Prove your point. We secured a laminated card (little bigger
than a business card) to the top of the computer screens in each of
our 36 ORs with a little piece of Velcro. The card asked circulators to
page me or a colleague if the outer glove of a person scrubbed during
a case was perforated, but the indicator glove remained intact. This
happened 27 times over a 2-month period in early 2015. Here was tan-
gible, powerful evidence that wearing double sets of gloves prevented
exposure to bloodborne pathogens.
5 2 • 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
• REMINDER We Velcroed this reminder to every OR computer workstation to remind
staff to alert us when the outer glove was punctured or perforated.
Kimberly
J.
Elgin,
MSN,
RN,
CNOR,
CLNC
