OPEN GLOVING

DEFINITION:
Use of gloves reduces the risk of contaminating the healthcare workers hands with blood and other bodily
fluids it also reduces the risk of germ dissemination to the environment as well as it reduces the risk of the
transmission of microorganisms and harmful pathogens from the health care worker to the patient and
vice versa

PURPOSES:
 To enable the nurse/us to handle or touch sterile objects freely without contaminating them.
 To prevent transmission of potentially infectious microorganism from the nurse’s hands to clients
at high risk of infection.

PRINCIPLES:
 Always wash hands prior use of sterile/clean gloves. The use of sterile gloves does not replace
hand washing and so we must perform hand hygiene before and after every procedure.
 Sterile to sterile.
 Do not put your hands with sterile gloves below the waist.

EQUIPMENT:
 Sterile gloves (disposable)

STEPS:
1. Secure the appropriate size and check the
package including the expiry date.
RATIONALE:
To ensure user comfort and avoid contamination if
the gloves are too big then it would be harder to
hold objects and it would be easier for germs to get
inside the gloves now if the gloves are too small
then it is most likely to get ripped or if not it may
cause decrease in blood flow to the fingertips and
may result to pain numbness and constraints in
finger and hand movements.

2. Wash and dry hands thoroughly. To prevent the spread of microorganisms.

3. Open the wrapper carefully and remove the To keep sterility of the gloves.
inner package.
Any moisture on the surface could contaminate the
gloves.

4. Place the sterile glove package on a clean and Moisture can contaminate the gloves.
dry surface above the waist level.
Any object held below the waist is considered
contaminated.

5. Carefully open the inner package by grasping So that we could insert our fingers easily.
the flaps and folded tabs.

6. Pick the glove for the dominant hand by its If the thumb is kept against the palm, it is likely to
folded cuff edge. Lift and step back. contaminate the outside of the gloves.

7. Insert the dominant hand into the glove. Leave To avoid contamination and ensure the sterility of
the cuff folded. the gloves.
8. Insert gloved hand into the folded cuff of the To maintain the sterility of the gloves.
 other glove and do the same just like the
dominant hand.

9. Adjust each glove and carefully pull the cuffs Helps prevent accidental contamination of the
upward with the glove hand still at the level of gloves by the back of the hand.
the table. Observe "skin to skin and glove to
glove principles".

10. After gloves are on, interlock hands. To avoid contamination.

To avoid accidental touching of non-sterile objects

and the front of our uniforms.

11. To remove the gloves, grasp outside one end of Prevent accidental contamination of the gloves
the cuff with the other gloved hand, avoid from touching the skin in the wrist.
touching skin.

12. Pull glove off by turning it inside out. To avoid contamination.

13. Slide the 1st two fingers of the ungloved hand The soiled part of the gloves is folded to the inside
inside the remaining glove. Grasp the glove to reduce the chance of transferring any
inside and remove by turning inside out from microorganisms.
the hand and over the other glove.

14. Discard the gloves in an appropriate container To avoid cross-contamination.

and wash your hands.

REFERENCE:
Potter, P. A., Perry, A. G., Stockert, P. A., & Hall, A. M. (2017a). Fundamentals of Nursing. Elsevier
Gezondheidszorg.
Berman, A. T., Snyder, S., & Msn Rn, F. G. E. (2020). Kozier & Erb’s Fundamentals of Nursing:
Concepts, Process and Practice (11th ed.). Pearson.