Culture of operating room (OR) safety: Double gloving for effective hand protection
Improving surgical gloving practice
Improving surgical gloving practice is about embracing a culture of safety and leading the OR team to the most effective hand protection1.
Communication is critical
Preventive measures to reduce the risk of surgical site infections (SSIs), such as clean theatres, laminar air flow, good draping, skin preparation and so on, are protocol driven but rely very much on open communication policies in the OR and the surgeon setting that tone for the entire team.
In this episode
Best practice guidance on operating safely to minimise risk and prevent infections in patients, while also protecting healthcare professionals (HCPs) in the OR. Guest Mr Nathan Coombs explains how the practice of double gloving fits into standard safety measures in his OR.
Communication into practice
Ensuring safe OR practice also demands that gloves are donned properly, including double gloving and using a correct donning technique. The senior surgeon is responsible for staff and should set the standard of practice for everyone in the OR.
Reality: Glove barrier breaches
Glove barrier breaches happen in the OR whether the injured party realises it or not. Sometimes only when removing surgical gloves does the wearer find that the gloves have been compromised. Double gloving helps protect the sterile inner glove – and hand – from bacterial contamination and keeps patients and OR staff safer, especially when an indicator glove system shows when the outer glove is breached1.
Reality: Tackling tactile sensitivity
The surgical glove can affect the tactile sensitivity required during procedures. For Mr Coombs, double gloving with high-quality surgical gloves during breast cancer surgery did not compromise his tactile sensitivity, even when gripping and working with breast tissue (compared to single gloving).
For surgeons, their hands are everything. Double gloving offers an efficient, cost-effective way to add an extra layer of protection during surgical interventions2,3.
Hands & gloves podcast
Hands and gloves hold many of the critical keys to infection prevention, operating room (OR) efficiency and surgical best practices. Hear more from your peers about OR practices, gloving and other surgical glove-related topics in the podcast series Hands & gloves.
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The efficacy of double gloving in reducing the risk of an inner-glove perforation and increase the detection of perforations when they occur has been evaluated in two different Cochrane systematic reviews¹,².
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References
- Mischke C et al. Gloves, extra gloves or special types of gloves for preventing percutaneous exposure injuries in healthcare personnel. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2014: 7;(3):CD009573.
- Tanner J, et al. Double gloving to reduce surgical cross-infection. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2006; 19;(3):CD003087.
- O'Malley EM et al. Cost of Management of Occupational Exposure to Blood and Body Fluids. Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology. 2007; 28(7):774-782.