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CareForGrandma Asked February 2023

When should I wear gloves?

I noticed that my grandma's aides often use nitrile gloves when helping my grandma in the bathroom. I never use gloves. Should I start wearing gloves? I'm especially concerned when I help my grandma on the toilet and when I cut the cuticles on her hands and feet during manicures and pedicures.


Can I get sick if I touch her urine or feces or, in the case of doing her cuticles, her blood?


I guess I hesitate to use gloves because not only are they expensive and bad for the environment, but because I don't want my grandma to think that I'm disgusted by her. Unlike her aides who are "strangers," I'm family and I don't want her to feel any distance from me, especially given her embarrassment during these very intimate, but necessary, interactions.


Thank you for reading my question! I look forward to hearing feedback!

Sadinroanokeva Feb 2023
Yes…gloves!! Always with bathroom help….MRSA and such does not care if you are family! I buy mine on ebay…quite inexpensive.
Beatty Feb 2023
Family member now has bowel issues after helping another clean up (without gloves). Very good handwashing should in theory be ok but why risk it?

Use gloves.
BurntCaregiver Feb 2023
There should never be a time that you do any personal care without gloves on.
You put gloves on every time you help grandma in the bathroom. Or when you help her wash up. Or if you're applying any medications to her body. ALWAYS wear gloves.
The not wanting her to feel any distance between the two of you. Take a minute and think about that statement and what it sounds like.
If the aides 'often' wear gloves when helping grandma, that 'often' has to become an 'ALWAYS' as in today.
People can get sick when they don't take the proper precautions when doing personal hygiene care for another. Please start wearing gloves.
CareForGrandma Feb 2023
Thank you, BurntCaregiver! I just recently started noticing that the aides wear gloves. I'll have to notice if it's just "often" and, if so, make it "always". This is just another aspect of caregiving I never considered and am realizing is very important.

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Fawnby Feb 2023
Always wear gloves! Since more than one person is caring for grandma, that's a lot of hands in possibly contaminated body fluids. Your hands are on privates, you rub your eyes, they serve grandma food, you eat some of the food, someone goes to the bathroom and fails to wash hands completely, someone gets diarrhea but doesn't mention it, you cut her cuticles and she picks her nose. It's an ideal environment for someone to become ill with something that could be passed to grandma, and I'm sure you don't want her getting sicker.

About your grandma feeling distance from you, or that she's thinking she's repulsive, or that you don't like her well enough to wipe her with your bare hands - please don't think about that. Being family doesn't mean you have to put yourself in danger. Your goal should be to provide best patient care for your loved one, not worrying that you're going to hurt her feelings. Explain to yourself - and her if necessary - that you are following approved health protocol for home nursing care. Then do it. You're a caregiver. You must protect yourself in order to keep taking care of grandma.

She's lucky to have such a caring granddaughter.
NeedHelpWithMom Feb 2023
It’s so gross if a person doesn’t wash their hands before cooking, including under our nails.

I can’t imagine cooking, serving or eating food without washing my hands.

I like how Japanese restaurants serve hot towels to guests before eating.
Fawnby Feb 2023
The last thing I want to think about when helping my LO stay safe and alive is the environment. People first, then the planet. Which is suffering from a lot more than used latex gloves.
CareForGrandma Feb 2023
Sad, but true, Fawnby. I'll keep that in mind. Thank you for all of your comments.
funkygrandma59 Feb 2023
I never wore gloves while I was caring for my husband, and I had to wipe his butt every day the last 22 months of his life, cut both his finger and toe nails, and empty his catheter bag twice a day.
I always just washed my hands really well when I was done with his care.
But I don't have a germ phobia either and never have. It takes a whole lot to gross me out.
Of course when the hospice nurses or aides came to the house they always wore gloves and they should.
Bottom line is that you should do whatever you're comfortable doing.
CareForGrandma Feb 2023
Thank you, funkygrandma59! The idea of wearing gloves is another of the many aspects of caregiving I never realized. I've never been a germaphobe, but now I'm wondering if I should be less naive and more realistic with my approach. I appreciate all the feedback and will consider what feels comfortable going forward.
Catskie62 Feb 2023
Amazon has an overabundance of gloves at the moment. I used the Basics or Medpride gloves. Box of 100 is about 7 or 8 bucks.
CareForGrandma Feb 2023
Great, Catskie62! Thank you, I'll check it out!
NeedHelpWithMom Feb 2023
Some people are fanatical about germs. I am one of those. Others are not. Have you ever seen a mom pick up a baby’s pacifier after it dropped onto the floor or ground and licked it and stuck it back in her child’s mouth? I have! LOL 😆 So gross!

I am obsessed with hand washing. I use warm water and soap. I’m not much on hand sanitizers. I prefer soap and water.

I think about the Asian and Arab cultures that take off their shoes. Our streets are absolutely filthy.

Look at how many people follow the ‘5 second’ rule. Some people think if they drop something and pick it up off the floor because it’s only been there a a few seconds it’s okay to eat. Nope, for me it goes straight into the trash! My floors are clean but I don’t eat food if I drop it on the floor.

I do take off my shoes in my home. It’s comfy to be barefoot.
NeedHelpWithMom Feb 2023
Bandy,

Please don’t laugh but I rinse off the top of cans before opening them! I read there are rats in warehouses and they leave poop droppings on the cans!

So, I rinse them. I’m super fanatical!

My daughters laugh at me. Here’s what I have told them? Have you ever been sick from my cooking? They say no. So, I think that our neurotic behavior is justified! LOL 😆
Grandma1954 Feb 2023
Use gloves whenever you are potentially going to come in contact with any bodily fluid. (although if you help her blow her nose simply washing your hands should be enough)
Use gloves when applying a barrier cream or even a lotion. (I always used gloves when putting a lotion on my husband because it made my hands slide more easily over his thin skin. Also the lotion was absorbed into his skin not mine.)
Using gloves is not a substitute for handwashing. You still have to wash hands when you remove the gloves.
If grandma is on Hospice Hospice will provide gloves for your use and for the staff as well as any caregivers you have.
As far as cutting her cuticles and nails..I hope there is not any blood that you might con=me in contact with so using gloves then is up to you.
CareForGrandma Feb 2023
Thank you for your response, Grandma1954! Interesting how wearing gloves helps the lotion absorb into his skin, not yours. I hadn't thought of that. My grandma isn't on hospice, so I've been buying the gloves myself. I'm grateful that so many people have offered suggestions on where to buy gloves for the best price, in bulk. I'll have to start taking comparison shopping more seriously because the way I've been doing things just isn't sustainable.
AlvaDeer Feb 2023
Gloves are required when you are dealing with the bodily fluids of another person whether sputum, urine, feces, or blood. They are not required for cutting nails, but if they showed you a blowup of what's under our nails happily thriving you would know good handwashing is a requirement.
For those living together and exposed daily to others, good hand washing suffices for many things, as in GOOD hand washing. Rubbing is what kills germs, bacteria and etc.
Glad you are thinking of the environment, but wow, I fear it is too late. When I look at daily garbage days on our street I pretty much know it is over for mankind, sooner than we think. So protect yourself.
As to RNs and visiting medical, if they aren't gloving they are being negligent. So imagine the numbers of gloves for them. Wish there was a better answer. Pretty much isn't.
CareForGrandma Feb 2023
Thank you, AlvaDeer! Sadly, you made me laugh, thinking of our poor planet. I know. I too see the garbage collected every week just on my block and sigh. Also, you taught me a new word, "sputum". I'll have to be more aware of if her aides are always wearing gloves. I only recently noticed and gave it a second thought. I've never lived with my grandma and still don't, so in some ways, I do feel like an outsider when I come to help, which is why I all of a sudden started considering wearing gloves. Thank you for your thoughts!
JoAnn29 Feb 2023
I never wore gloves because I can't stand them. 😊 I know, not an excuse especially after working for Nurses and going to those Blood borne pathogens classes every year for 7 yrs. I had deodorant soap in Moms bathroom that I washed before and after I cleaned her up. Dial is the best next to what Doctors use in their office. My daughter did a project on what soaps kill bacteria.

There are gloves made out of Latex that people are allergic to. There are those with powder inside and some without.

You cut her cuticles or do you mean nails. If you mean cuticles, you do not cut them. They get thicker. Also, because they bleed, infections can set in. Sometimes nail files are rounded at one end. This is for pushing the cuticle back. There is also a small tool that does this. Soak her hands first and then just push the cuticle back. This can be done after a bath. Just use the towel to push the cuticles back. Haven't used polish in years but there used to be a cuticle remover you could use. When it comes to her feet, a podiatrist should be cutting her toenails. They tend to thicken as we age. I actually broke a clipper on my DHs nails. No aide or Nurse should be doing toenails. Again, infection could set in.
CareForGrandma Feb 2023
Thank you! You've given me a lot of information I didn't know, JoAnn29! I have been cutting her nails and her cuticles. I didn't realize that cutting her cuticles could lead to infection. I'll follow your advice on how to maintain her cuticles more safely. Same with her feet. I have been doing her pedicures. I didn't realize that should be something for a podiatrist. Again, I didn't realize that could run the risk of infection. Thank you for sharing this information. Things I didn't know but will change going forward!
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