Uso de luvas pelos enfermeiros na prestação de cuidados

Abstract

The study addresses the use of gloves by nurses whilst providing health care in a hospital in the autonomous region of the Azores. It is a cross-sectional, descriptive study with a quantitative approach, aimed at characterising practices, checking behaviour, and comparing their knowledge and understanding of the rules on best practice for the use of personal protective equipment. As a data collection instrument, a survey was carried out on 311 nurses. The study suggests that the majority (93%) of nurses frequently use unsterilised latex gloves. The reason for the use of these gloves is to minimise the risks associated with the handling of biological materials and to reduce the risk of transmitting infection from the nurses to the patients and from the patients to the nurses. 53% of the nurses believe that they protect themselves adequately, and 96% consider that they are well informed of the risks associated with their work. 69% consider that not using gloves is a high risk, and 89% are aware of the existence of rules concerning the use of gloves at work. Some 79% disagree that the working conditions are inadequate, 74% consider the gloves adequate, 97% report they are readily available and 80% say that they are not uncomfortable. They recognise that the main reasons for gloves not being used, although necessary, are the urgency of the procedure and the lack of perception of the risk. As expected for the use of the gloves, the majority (69%) washes their hands before putting them on and almost all nurses (99%) put them on before starting any procedures. All nurses stated that they used a separate pair for each treatment and that they removed them correctly, while 96% said that they sanitised their hands after use. When providing genital health care 93% always use gloves, as well as when affixing plasters and for performing venipuncture (65%).When it comes to the use of gloves, the majority of nurses (63%) are influenced very little by their colleagues or superiors.

Date of Award	20 Dec 2011
Original language	Portuguese
Awarding Institution	Universidade Católica Portuguesa
Supervisor	Beatriz Araújo (Supervisor) & Maria Amélia Meireles Lima da Costa Peres Correia (Co-Supervisor)