The Royal College of Nursing encourages nurses to do their bit for the environment by making one small change and reducing unnecessary glove use.
The colleges annually Glove Awareness WeekThis year, it runs from 2-9 May and coincides with World Hand Hygiene Day which is on 5 May.
This year’s campaign aims at educating people about hand hygiene, which is an effective way to protect yourself against viruses such as Covid-19. Nurses can also benefit from a simple change to reduce glove usage, by allowing patients to use fewer gloves and by preserving the environment.
Rose Gallagher is the RCN professional lead in infection prevention and control. Rose spoke with Nursing TimesGet in advance of the campaign
We will be using the same message this year that was so successful last year. She asked people to make one change.
A care home nurse might decide not to wear gloves when serving drinks or supporting someone to mobilize.
It could be as simple as stopping to think before you have direct contact with a patient. Or not wearing gloves when administering routine vaccinations.
Hand hygiene is safe. Ms. Gallagher said that this small change would allow us to ask people for their support to make a difference.
Ms. Gallagher shared her story Nursing TimesThe Covid-19 pandemic has brought new heights in glove use in NHS.
Rose Gallagher
She said that we have used close to 12 billion gloves in the past two years, which is a large number.
This is due to the fact that healthcare workers are often given too much advice.
While I am not saying that the guidance is inherently wrong, we do know that there are many instances when gloves are worn when they aren’t necessary. She said that hand hygiene is safe and effective in protecting staff and patients.
Ms. Gallagher explained the triad of negative consequences that excessive glove usage can have.
First, and most importantly, too many gloves can increase the chance of spreading infections. This is because gloves reduce the need to wash hands and use hand soap less often.
People will put on gloves and forget to do hand hygiene.
It means that you spread germs and pathogens when you should be washing your hands.
Staff who wear gloves for prolonged periods of time have a second problem. Prolonged glove-use can cause the skin of the hands to become over-hydrated, leading to soreness and even occupationally-acquired dermatitis.
Ms Gallagher said that it is a major problem in the NHS. There are many sore fingers out there right now because nurses use hand soap so often and wear gloves a lot.
Excessive glove use has a third adverse effect on the environment. Excessive glove-wearing can lead to climate change by increasing carbon emissions from manufacturing and transport. It also leads to more plastic ending up in landfills, which pollutes the environment.
Ms. Gallagher shared her story Nursing TimesNurses have been captivated by the environmental impact of glove usage.
She said that they are acutely aware of the large amounts of waste generated by single-use items.
There are no viable alternatives to disposable gloves, despite the fact that there is a significant push towards creating more reusable PPE items (e.g. FFP3 Masks) to reduce the environmental impact of single use plastics in healthcare. Their environmental impact can only be reduced by reducing their use.
Ms. Gallagher said that the biggest contribution we can make to sustainability is making sure we only wear gloves when necessary.
Nurses can make a significant contribution to the sustainability of gloves by reducing glove use where possible.