Hand Hygiene Compliance and Glove Use

Hand hygiene is one of the most crucial components of infection prevention and control in the healthcare field; hospital-acquired infections account for an increase in morality, increase in length of hospital stays, and increase in complications for patients (Mathur, 2011). Cross contamination and critical moments in patient care that require hand hygiene as defined by the World Health Organization have been evaluated as it relates to hand hygiene compliance and glove use. According to the World Health Organization (2009), gloves are to be worn by healthcare professional “during all patient-care activities that may involve exposure to blood and all other body fluid (including contact with mucous membrane and non-intact skin), during contact precautions and outbreak situations”. Glove use is very important, but how are patients and healthcare professionals affected by glove overuse? With the use of gloves in the patient-care setting, hand hygiene sometimes takes a backseat to the use of gloves. “The unnecessary and inappropriate use of gloves results in a waste of resource and may increase the risk of germ transmission” (WHO, 2009). Gloves are never to be used as a substitute for hand hygiene and can actually cause an increase in the rate of hospital-acquired infections at the bedside; bacteria, viruses, and other contaminants are not eliminated on the hands that are then put inside of an examination glove, thus inappropriate glove use puts patients and healthcare professionals at risk of cross-contamination and infection (Fuller, et al, 2011). In the following presentation, scholarly reviews and evidence appraisals were conducted in order to find further evidence of glove use and the impact it has on hand hygiene. Peer-reviewed articles were examined and research was extracted in order to examine how today’s practice could be affected. Discussion of the evidence found based on this subject and how nursing practice might be improved upon will conclude this presentation.