Essential Guide to Sterile Gloving

Mar 15, 2025

Mindmap

Sterile Gloving Procedures

Sterile procedures are crucial in healthcare settings to prevent infections. The primary focus is on maintaining a sterile environment to protect both patients and healthcare workers.

Importance of Sterile PPE

  • Sterile Gloves: Most common sterile PPE used in procedures.
  • Properly sized gloves improve dexterity and ease of donning.
  • Jewelry should be removed to avoid tearing gloves or contamination.

Preparing for Gloving

  • Hand Hygiene: Wash hands thoroughly before handling gloves.
  • Workspace Preparation: Ensure workspace is clean, as gloves and package are sterile only until exposed.

Donning Sterile Gloves

  1. Opening the Package:

    • Open outer wrap without contaminating inner contents.
    • Unfold package, exposing only the sterile field.

  2. Creating a Sterile Field:

    • Sterile field is the uncontaminated area within the inner package.
    • Maintain a 1-inch contaminated border around the sterile field.

  3. Handling the Gloves:

    • Identify inner (safe to touch) and outer surfaces of gloves.
    • Avoid touching outer surface with non-sterile hands.

  4. Gloving the Dominant Hand:

    • Use non-dominant hand to grasp inside of dominant glove's cuff.
    • Slide dominant hand into glove without touching outer surface.

  5. Gloving the Non-Dominant Hand:

    • Use gloved dominant hand to slide fingers under cuff of other glove.
    • Avoid contact with skin or non-sterile surfaces.

  6. Final Adjustments:

    • Roll cuffs down with sterile gloved hand.
    • Avoid snapping gloves or unnecessary movement.

Common Mistakes

  • Touching non-sterile surfaces with gloved hands leads to contamination.
  • Mis-handling of cuff results in sterile to non-sterile contact.

Doffing Sterile Gloves

  1. Removing the First Glove:

    • Grasp outer surface of cuff, pull away from hand.
    • Ball up removed glove in the gloved hand.

  2. Removing the Second Glove:

    • Slide ungloved finger under cuff, peel glove off inside out.
    • Both gloves should be disposed of properly.

Importance of Procedure

  • Correct gloving is vital to prevent contamination of equipment and infection.
  • Having extra pairs of gloves available is a best practice to ensure sterility if contamination occurs.