Gloves & Avoidable Waste

awareness contaminant environment gloves infection waste Oct 03, 2024

Take a moment or 5 - do you really need those gloves? 🤔

How many times in a shift would you don a pair of gloves? 🧤

In the hustle and bustle of a busy shift, it's easy to throw on some gloves for the various tasks you do without so much as a second thought - but do you really need them? And does it matter if you wear them or not? 🤷‍♂️

Non-sterile gloves should be worn for any task where there is a risk of exposure to blood, bodily fluids, or surfaces and equipment that could be contaminated by infectious or cytotoxic agents. 🩸
In these instances - gloves have been shown to reduce contamination and infection for staff and patients. 🏥

What’s the problem then? There are 2 really big ones! ⚠️

Infection control 🦠

🦠The misuse or overuse of gloves has actually been shown to increase the risk of contamination and infection transmission due to poorer compliance with hand hygiene. 🚫🧼

🦠Excessive glove use can cause occupational dermatitis, leading to breaks and micro cuts in the lovely natural protective barrier that is your skin. 🥺

🦠Gloves that are not changed between individual patient tasks spread contaminants to other surfaces, equipment, and patients! 🔄

Environmental impact 🌍

🌏On average, 30 pairs of gloves are used in a 12-hour shift for a single patient! 😲

🌏Across the Hunter New England District (NSW), ~28.3 million gloves are used per year - the carbon footprint of that is equivalent to 175 trips around Australia in a fuel-efficient car! 🚗💨

🌏National statistics on annual glove use are hard to come by, but to give you some perspective, the revenue generated from sales of medical gloves in Australia in 2023 was $140 million! 💰💲

What can you do? 🤷‍♀️
Before you pull on that pair of gloves, ask yourself three simple questions:

🧤 Why are you wearing gloves? ❓
🧤 Who or what are you trying to protect? 🛡️
🧤 Are gloves the best choice for this? 🔍

Always remember your 5 moments of hand hygiene - and spare a moment for the environment too! 🌱

Build Knowledge ✅
Improve Safety ✅

Refs:

ACSQHC (2024) Sustainable glove use for healthcare workers. https://shorturl.at/cXooK

HNELHD (2024) Gloves Off! https://shorturl.at/u0fdG 

Horizon Grand View Research (2024) Australian disposable medical gloves market size and outlook. https://shorturl.at/fYU7F

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