for your reading enjoyment....

December 9, 2006



Department of Health and Human Services
Centers for Disease Control
Public Inquiries
Mailstop E11
1600 Clifton Road
Atlanta, Georgia 30333

RE: Use of clean exam gloves


It is with deep concern for my health and safety as well as the health
and safety of my co-workers and patients that I am requesting an
official ruling on the use of clean exam gloves. I am an Operating
Room nurse at Kettering Hospital in Kettering, Ohio. During an
In-Service on Wednesday, December 6, 2006 the OR staff was informed by
the Infection Control staff that it was no longer acceptable to wear
clean exam gloves while transporting patients to and from the
operating room suite or anywhere else in the hospital. We were also
advised that it is not acceptable practice to wear clean exam gloves
when transporting bags of OR trash or linens to the decontamination
area for disposal.

The rationale offered by Infection Control is that if a clean gown and
clean linens are placed on the patient, there is no need for gloves.
Additionally, if the trash and linen bags are clean on the outside
(which often they are not) there is no need to wear gloves when
transporting these bags.

Patients often have varying tubes placed in their bodies that have the
potential to be accidentally pulled and can splash a person
transporting them. Some examples would include naso-gastric tubes,
chest tubes, Jackson-Pratt drains, Penrose drains, IV catheters, foley
catheters, etc. Also, many patients are incontinent of stool and urine
as well as the potential for vomiting or bleeding from an orifice.



Operating room trash and linens are almost always contaminated with
blood as well as feces, urine, sputum, bile, gastric secretions or
vomitus, at times. The potential for a bag to be torn during
transport to the decontamination area exists.

My perspective is as follows: until we get the Star Trek technology
onboard, health care workers must physically transport patients and
patient waste. Therefore; it would seem prudent that we protect
ourselves and others by the use of clean exam gloves during transport.

I would like an official ruling by the CDC as I have been advised by
my supervisor that I would be "counseled on my behavior" if I continue
to wear clean exam gloves.

Thank you for your time and attention to this matter.

Sincerely,



Caryl J. Carver, RN, BSN

cc: OSHA
NIOSH


STAY TUNED FOR ANOTHER EXCITING ADVENTURE WITH OSHA... THERE WERE 7
ENCOUNTERS IN ALL