Exploring the Benefits of Double-Gloving During Surgery

The Association of periOperative Registered Nurses (AORN) has published the results of a 24-month study examining the effect of double-gloving with inner indicator gloves on the durability of inner gloves and the detection of glove tears or perforations during surgery.

The study results appear in the article, "Exploring the Benefits of Double Gloving During Surgery," published in the March issue of AORN Journal. In an article inset, called the Plain Language Summary, the study authors, Denise Korniewicz, PhD, RN, FAAN, and Maher El-Masri, PhD, RN, write, "double-gloving by itself may protect the wearers skin from needle sticks because breaches are more likely to occur to the outer gloves than the inner gloves." Their study found that healthcare providers observed blood on their hands after surgery more frequently when they wore a single pair of gloves than when they wore two pairs of gloves.

The study also found that "the frequency of changing gloves during surgery was significantly higher among those healthcare providers who wore dark-colored gloves under light-colored gloves than those who wore two pairs of gloves that were the same color." The majority of healthcare providers in the authors study expressed favorable views about double-gloving.

The AORN Journal is peer reviewed and provides registered nurses in the operating room and related services with information based on scientific evidence and principle. Articles cover the nurses roles before, during, and after surgery and include patient teaching and preparation, use and care of surgical instruments and supplies, asepsis, sterilization, anesthesia, and related topics.