Do you find it necessary to wear gloves at all times when in contact with a patient

[V781]

I understand wearing gloves when there are open sores and/or bodily fluids...but otherwise, putting on a glove to touch a patient's intact skin may be somewhat offensive to the patient. It sends the message that you see them as unclean and that you feel the need to protect yourself from them. This hinders the patient-doctor relationship.

A great blog article I read on this that I mostly agree with: Touch your patient. Don’t wear gloves.

 

[Snoopy2006]

I used to think that way. Then I lost count of the number of patients I saw touch their junk and try to shake my hand afterwards.

 

[deleted407021]

I try to wear gloves as little as possible for that reason -- also, at DO schools, the culture surrounding patient examination emphasizes using bare hands to assess and palpate. If there's anything open, oozing or I have reason to suspect fungal/parasitic/bacterial infection I'll glove up.

I always wash after touching each patient though, even if it were just a handshake.

 

[bannie22]

I used to think that way then I also recognized that patients do appreciate you putting on gloves because they would also be concerned with all the other patients you might have had to touch before them

 

[grapefruit17]

I try to wear gloves as little as possible for that reason -- also, at DO schools, the culture surrounding patient examination emphasizes using bare hands to assess and palpate.

.

yeah, I don't think I've ever seen a DO who thinks in that nature after residency. I don't really palpate stuff on physical exams, unless I'm doing some special test..

 

[username456789]

I understand wearing gloves when there are open sores and/or bodily fluids...but otherwise, putting on a glove to touch a patient's intact skin may be somewhat offensive to the patient. It sends the message that you see them as unclean and that you feel the need to protect yourself from them. This hinders the patient-doctor relationship.

A great blog article I read on this that I mostly agree with: Touch your patient. Don’t wear gloves.

I'm a dermatologist and I almost never wear gloves to examine patients. It is rarely necessary.

I do make a point to let the patient see that I've washed/sanitized my hands.

 

[Donald Juan]

As a urologist, I know that anyone who needs gloves to do a scrotal exam is clearly an amateur. You can only adequately palpate that epididymis with skin-to-skin.

 

[SurfingDoctor]

Gloves. Always. Kids are walking Petri dishes.

 

[Crayola227]

I knew an ED doc that did, always.

I thought it was weird and asked them about it.

It wasn't until then that I realized just how sweaty everyone is in the hospital.

It may not be an issue for universal precautions or transmission risks, but it sure does feel gross to have a sick stranger's sweat on your hands.

I started doing the same. In clinic when I'm dealing with more "well" and less slimy specimens I may skip gloves.

 

[AlmostAnMD]

I literally never touch patients at all unless gloved

If I for whatever reason touch them without gloves I immediately wash my hands

 

[ThreeCheers]

I used to think that way then I also recognized that patients do appreciate you putting on gloves because they would also be concerned with all the other patients you might have had to touch before them

I agree with this, especially if you Purel in front of patients before gloving. They'll assume that you're just following precautions for their sake.

 

[OrthoTraumaMD]

I touch without gloves unless dealing with wounds, body fluids, or patients who I know are MRSA carriers.

 

[Peach Newport]

As a urologist, I know that anyone who needs gloves to do a scrotal exam is clearly an amateur. You can only adequately palpate that epididymis with skin-to-skin.

Can't tell if serious

 

[Crayola227]

Can't tell if serious

can tell if med student

 

[VA Hopeful Dr]

I touch without gloves unless dealing with wounds, body fluids, or patients who I know are MRSA carriers.

Overkill

 

[TooMuchResearch]

Yes, gloves.

 

[OrthoTraumaMD]

Overkill

Not til you've seen your first MRSA postop wound it has support in the ortho literature as well. We underestimate carriers.

 

[anbuitachi]

I glove up for everything. I must go thru a box of gloves a day. Our patients are all super sick, might as well minimize infection risks.. I use alcohol after i take off the gloves and leave the room. I mean , how many of us actually wash our hands by the book? Who has the time for that?

 

[deleted497653]

I never touch patients without gloves. I also don't shake hands but rather greet the patient and family verbally as I enter the room, "good morning, how are you" etc.
I've caught enough colds from people to not wear gloves.
When in church, I dread shaking hands during the peace offering session (catholic). People are always rubbing their eyes and noses right before and I just don't trust people's cleanliness after working in the ER. Considering just doing a verbal "peace be with you". I guess I'm a bit of a germaphobe. And I don't care if someone is offended by the gloves. You have to take care of your own health just as much.

 

[raiderette]

When I was 14 I went to a gynecologist due to horrible endometriosis. He started to do a pelvic exam without gloves. I freaked out and left. Sometimes gloves make all the difference.

 

[UNMedGa]

It's probably best to in the hospital, in outpatient settings it's not such a problem.

 

[Levo]

Almost never in clinic, sometimes on the wards, almost always in the ICU. The likelihood of a clinic patient coming in for a regular visit having a scary pan-resistant something or other is pretty low. Sometimes there's a "gross factor" to doing a physical exam on a patient, but I get over it and wash my hands right after. In the hospital that risk becomes meaningfully high.

 

[sliceofbread136]

I wear gloves for everything almost 100% of the time. Never ran into someone who cared even a little

 

[VA Hopeful Dr]

Not til you've seen your first MRSA postop wound it has support in the ortho literature as well. We underestimate carriers.

I'd bet good money that you're already a carrier, almost all healthcare workers are - especially ones who actually spend time in the hospital.

 

[OrthoTraumaMD]

I'd bet good money that you're already a carrier, almost all healthcare workers are - especially ones who actually spend time in the hospital.

Not a carrier actually. Was tested prior to my own surgery. So you would have lost that bet. Precautions work and MRSA is a bad problem in the ICU especially.

 

[evilbooyaa]

In clinic, pretty much never.

If you need gloves to get your brain to calm down over the smallest things though, so be it.

 

[IlDestriero]

No


--
Il Destriero

 

[Rendar5]

I shake hands and examinepatients without gloves on almost all epidermal areas. Gloves for areas without epidermis, axillae, genitals, and infectious appearing rashes.

 

[hurtem&healem]

I'd bet good money that you're already a carrier, almost all healthcare workers are - especially ones who actually spend time in the hospital.

I was making fun of my hospital's contact precautions the other day and decided to look up exactly what percentage of healthcare workers are carriers for MRSA. Figured it would be like 85%. The literature I found put it between 4.5-7%.