How to dispose of Examination Gloves properly

Examination Gloves

Examination gloves serve to protect two classes of people: the person getting a medical exam and the person doing the examination or helping out in the examination. It is very easy to figure out the safety needs of the people doing the examination or helping out with the examination: bodily fluids might be exposed and these can carry harmful microbes or viruses. Also, many medical examinations involve open lesions or sores that might come into contact with the unprotected skin of the people doing the examination. These open or ruptured skin sections can contain microbes, viruses, and other pathogens. What's not as widely known is the fact that examination gloves are also aimed at protecting the health of the person being examined. Throughout the day, medical professionals handle all sorts of patients. If these medical personnel did not wear protective gear, they might end up unwittingly passing microbes from one patient to another. These microbes and pathogens can stick to the personnel's clothing but most likely will stick to their hands. Using the right gear and handling them properly minimizes safety risks. Use the tips below to dispose of examination gloves properly.

Turn Them Out Completely

After you have handled a patient and have concluded the examination, there might be all sorts of body secretions or goo on the exam gloves. While most external examinations don't involve secretions, all bets are off when it comes to orifice exams. Whether you were examining a patient's anus, vagina, mouth, or other opening, the type of microbes swimming in the bodily secretion is almost limitless. Thankfully, you were wearing examination gloves and this eliminated the problem entirely, right? Wrong. After you are done with the exam, you are not out of the woods just yet. You have to handle your examination gloves the right way or else, much of the hazards you avoided are still present. The first thing you need to do is to turn out your examination gloves when you remove them. This involves turning the clean and non-infected part of the glove outside while the dirty part is inside. You have to full turn them out so they don't drip.

Drop into Appropriate Waste Bin

After you have completely turned out your examination gloves, make sure you drop them in the right waste bin. Hospitals have biohazard waste. These aren't your simple garbage wastes that can be thrown in a landfill. These are potentially infectious wastes that need to be incinerated. Your gloves may have microbe-filled goo on them, so they need to be put in the right bin for appropriate disposal. If not, you might be spreading infections.

Don't Leave Them Out In the Open

This might seem like a no brainer but given the hectic and stress-filled environment of most medical exam rooms and emergency rooms, you'd be surprised at how uncommon common sense has become. Make it a habit to dispose of your examination gloves immediately after use and not leave them out in the open leaving them out in the open might spread infections.