title: Improving glove barrier effectiveness.
abstract: Perioperative staff members depend on surgical gloves to prevent disease transmission between themselves and patients, but these gloves frequently fail during use. Three approaches can make surgical gloves more effective barriers: preventing glove failures, monitoring glove integrity, and improving glove quality. Failure prevention includes modifying surgical techniques, improving instruments and equipment, streamlining teamwork, selecting the most appropriate gloves, double gloving, and performing preventive glove changes. Glove integrity monitoring can be performed visually or by feel, by wearing glove pairs with color-puncture indicators, or by using electronic monitoring devices. Glove quality improvements must be accompanied by testing methods that reflect in-use conditions. A glove rating system that is based on in-use performance may enhance glove safety substantially.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, San Diego State University, CA, USA.
authors.forename: D P
authors.initials: DP
authors.lastname: Rabussay
authors.forename: D M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Korniewicz
mesh_terms: D004868:Equipment Failure; D005932:Gloves, Surgical / Q000145:classification / Q000592:standards*; D006801:Humans; D017053:Infection Control / Q000379:methods / Q000592:standards*; D016273:Occupational Exposure / Q000517:prevention & control; D013527:Perioperative Nursing / Q000592:standards*; D010564:Personnel, Hospital / Q000592:standards; D013523:Surgical Equipment; D014481:United States; D014486:United States Food and Drug Administration