Clinical Glove Use and Hand Hygiene Transitions

Key Points

• Gloves reduce hand contamination and transmission risk when selected and used correctly.
• Sterile gloves are required for sterile procedures; medical gloves are used for routine protective care.
• Hand hygiene is required before and after glove use and at defined glove-removal transition points.

Equipment

• Medical (nonsterile) gloves in appropriate sizes
• Sterile gloves for sterile-procedure contexts
• Hand hygiene supplies at point of care
• Waste container for immediate glove disposal

Procedure Steps

1. Determine procedure type and contamination risk before selecting glove type.
2. Choose sterile gloves for sterile procedures and medical gloves for routine protective care.
3. Perform hand hygiene before donning gloves.
4. Don gloves and complete care while avoiding unnecessary cross-contact between surfaces.
5. Remove gloves immediately after blood or body-fluid contact tasks are completed.
6. Remove gloves at the end of care for a single patient encounter.
7. Remove gloves before leaving the patient room.
8. Remove gloves any time hand hygiene is otherwise indicated during care transitions.
9. Perform hand hygiene after every glove removal event.
10. Apply a new glove pair for each new task/patient context; never reuse the same pair.

Common Errors

• Treating gloves as a substitute for hand hygiene → persistent transmission risk.
• Reusing the same glove pair across tasks or patients → cross-contamination.
• Delayed glove removal after body-fluid contact → prolonged contamination exposure.
• Skipping room-exit glove removal → spread of pathogens outside patient area.

Related

• hand-hygiene - Foundational method selection and timing for infection prevention.
• standard-precautions - Glove and hygiene transitions are core elements of routine precaution practice.