Nurse didnt wear gloves??

[Lila88]

Hi there. I'm aware i might sound a bit paranoid but just seeking for advice/opinions here.
I'm 14 weeks pregnant and today I went to get my bloods done.
The nurse or lab assistant didn't wear gloves during the extraction and she tapped my vein with her fingers just before the puncture. She did not put alcohol on the area after she touched my skin with her bare hands and didnt see her using gel beforehand. I did tell her afterwards but she said it was ok????
Worried about her hands not being clean and the possibility of a transmited infection.

Nurses never wear gloves for taking blood in my experience. She will have washed her hands before you came in. Are you generally an anxious person?

I think it's common, I don't think the nurse wore gloves taking me bloods the other day

I have blood taken a lot and they never wear gloves (possibly they may if the patient has a blood bourne disease to protect themselves?). Normally they've already washed their hands.

Taking blood is a 'clean procedure' not a 'sterile procedure'. She'll have washed her hands in perpetration to see you and this is entirely appropriate normal and safe.

Are you feeling anxious? Most people wouldn't even notice let alone worry about it to ask and then continue to think about it.

I'm really not being horrible but please try to relax.

I don't think I've ever seen them wear gloves for taking bloods and I've had blood taken a lot.

It's quite normal.

She will have washed her hands.

I think it’s hard to take blood tests it’s gloves on as you can’t feel the vein properly.
I wouldn’t worry about it

I have always seen them wear gloves and use alcohol to desinfect the area beforehand. Tbh, is she hadnt worn gloves and clean my skin after she touched it with bare hands i woudnt be worried its the fact she didnt clean the area after touching, if you know what i mean.

Going without gloves is more hygienic and is recommended because back in the day most hospitals / surgeries didn’t supply enough sterile gloves & so some nurses / doctors etc were wearing the same gloves all day.

There's a move away from wearing gloves unnecessarily, to encourage handwashing. Your risk of infection from the procedure is low.

We are at much more risk from you than you are to us. Gloves when taking blood are a pain as they get in the way and it can be harder to find a vein.

There's no need to worry in the slightest, you're at no risk whatsoever.

I always wear gloves when taking blood but it's for our protection not the patients, the gloves are not sterile, and probably not even as clean as washed hands. It's much easier to take blood without gloves as you need to be able to feel what your doing.

Try not to worry.

I wear gloves to do it, but they aren't sterile gloves and they are for my protection, not the patient's. Some colleagues find it hard to do with gloves on, so they don't wear them though especially with covid I think we are supposed to. No one where I work uses wipes beforehand as that isn't necessary. Our hands should be clean anyway and most people's skin is clean enough for a blood test.
Very, very unlikely to get an infection.

I think it's very unlikely that you will come to any harm, but she should have gelled or washed her hands immediately before starting the process. Doing it before the patient enters the room isn't really OK, because she has probably touched the door handle, keyboard, desk etc before doing the 'clean' part of the process.

There's probably not a lot you can do now though, other than keep an eye out for a local infection - I think it's unlikely though. In future I think it's absolutely reasonable to ask HCPs to wash their hands before doing anything that involves touching you.

Yeah i do suffer from anxiety. I think it has gotten worse after a TFMR last year

Are you in the U.K.? I have blood taken regularly and they don’t tend to clean the skin, all they do is give you a cotton ball to press on it and a plaster or tape. You really don’t need to give this a second thought.

Do you give blood? Because the timing of cleaning the area I've only known when giving blood. When having a blood test they don't clean the area. Maybe it's because donated blood is given to people who have their immune system compromised, so the cleaning is for them not you?

I’m not worried about the gloves. Clean hands are cleaner than gloves from a box. It also makes the vein easier to feel
Interestingly there is some research to show that cleaning the skin with an alcohol swab doesn’t make any difference in terms of introducing infection although historically we all did it.

@Reallybadidea, yeah thats what i thought. She might have desinfected them before i went in and didnt see but she closed the door and touched other stuff (pen, papers...) i mean, i would have put gel just after all that or at least desifect the skin with cotton soaked in alcohol after touching it and before the puncture. Thats what it makes sense to me

@PattyPan I live in Spain, first time i see this here.

I had blood taken while pregnant and the nurses always ended up taking their gloves off. They said it was really hard to feel for a vein with them on so they frequently had to take them off. I didn't mind at all - whatever makes it easier for them (and me!).

Gloves aren't sterile, they sit in their open boxes collecting whatever happens to fall on them. Washed hands are probably much cleaner!

Its more hygienic for them to wash their hands

Holy cow! We sanitize in front of patients and show them that we are putting on new gloves in Aus. We also wipe with alcohol.

I take blood daily at work and they should wear gloves and disinfect skin with an alcohol swab prior to taking blood. Plus no reusable tourniquets should be use as a side note. So yes the nurse was in the wrong. No biggie though so don't stress, I've never seen anyone get an infection from a blood test in my 5+ years of working in the NHS:)

I take bloods every day and always wear gloves, I have some colleagues that don’t and to be honest wouldn’t want them to take my bloods!
Next time ask them to wear gloves
However we don not clean/alcohol swab any more ( not for last few years) unless their is visible dirt on the vein.