Purpose

• As part of Standard Precautions, personal protective equipment (PPE) reduces the risk of spreading infection.
• PPE includes gloves, gowns, masks, respirators, goggles, and face shields.
  • Gloves act as a barrier. They protect you from pathogens in the person’s blood, body fluids, secretions, and excretions. They also protect the person from microbes on your hands.
  • Gowns prevent the spread of microbes. They protect your clothes and body from contact with blood, body fluids, secretions, and excretions. They also protect against splashes and sprays.
  • Masks and respirators offer protection from contact with the person’s infectious material, such as respiratory secretions and sprays of blood or body fluids. During sterile procedures, they protect the person from infectious agents carried in your mouth or nose.
  • Goggles and face shields protect your eyes, mouth, and nose from splashing and spraying of blood, body fluids, secretions, and excretions. Splashes and sprays can occur when you give care, clean items, or dispose of fluids.

Equipment

Roll cursor over items to see labels. For the purposes of clearly depicting the equipment, a barrier is not shown in this photo. When providing care, a barrier should always be placed on the surface before placing the equipment.

Face shield

Mask

Gown

Respirator

Goggles

Gloves

Delegation

• Check with the nurse and care plan about:
  • What PPE to use.
  • What special safety measures are needed.

Preparation

• Review the information under Safety and Comfort.
• Plan to wear gloves when contact with blood, potentially infectious materials, mucous membranes, non-intact skin, or contaminated skin is likely.
• Plan to wear a gown to protect your skin and clothing when contact with blood, body fluids, secretions, or excretions is likely. Also wear a gown for direct contact with a person who has uncontained excretions or excretions. Always wear gloves when a gown must be worn.
• Plan to wear a mask and goggles or a face shield for procedures and tasks that are likely to cause splashes and sprays of blood, body fluids, secretions, or excretions.
• Plan to don PPE in this order:
  • Gown
  • Mask or respirator
  • Goggles or face shield
  • Gloves
• Plan to remove PPE in this order:
  • Gloves
  • Goggles or face shield
  • Gown
  • Mask or respirator

Safety

• Always follow the correct procedure for removing gloves. No special method is needed to put on non-sterile gloves.
• Stay alert for signs of an allergy to latex (a rubber product in some gloves), such as skin rashes, asthma, and shock. Report skin rashes and breathing problems to the nurse at once.
• Check the person’s care plan and your assignment sheet for a note about a latex allergy. Wear latex-free gloves when caring for a person with a latex allergy.
• Even if you wear eyeglasses, use a face shield that fits over your glasses with minimal gaps. Regular eyeglasses and contact lenses do not protect you from splashing.
• Be aware that goggles do not provide splash or spray protection to other parts of your face.

Comfort

• To reduce exposure to latex, wear gloves only when needed. Gloves are needed whenever contact with blood body fluids, secretions, excretions, mucous membranes, or non-intact skin is likely. Gloves are not needed when such contact is not likely, such as when giving a back massage and brushing hair.

Follow-up Care

• This skill does not include follow-up care content.

Reporting/Recording

• This skill does not include reporting and recording content.