When I gave blood for my INR the phlebotomist wore gloves, when she had allergies she even wore a mask and even that rubber thing she put around my arm, she used once and threw it away, each patient. She had me state my name each time and my full social security number. She washed her hands with an antimicrobial each time. She stated they are so afraid of MERSA.

One sloppy nurse a while back threw blood from a syringe into the eyes of another by accident . It was HIV and the other became positive. Its scary business. One I spoke to had some in her eye also ,another nurse grabbed her and got her eyes flushed immediately she was ok but had to be on antiviral for a month or more.

I worked for a dentist (who was a very nice man, very honorable usually and one of the best dentists around) who would keep the same gloves on, go into the next patient's room and wash his hands WITH THOSE SAME GLOVES ON!!!!!
GACK. I showed him how permeable those exam gloves were and didn't get fired. Whew.

So you never know just who will try to save money or time.

My doctor washes her hands and THEN puts gloves on! And my dentist... well, he even changes his gloves if he has to touch his computer or adjust the light! I guess I'm lucky! :)

That's great! A role model for all doctors and dentists.
A dentist (or dental hygienist or assistant) are probably exposed to more germs than most doctors, barring surgeons.

EMTs have a very dangerous job now too----- and if I had a child looking for a profession or job------ I would hope that wouldn't be a first choice!

Well to be fair, most people don't like to be called out on stuff so I can see why they say that they wouldn't like patients reminding them to wash their hands or that they'd be defensive about it. So these responses are just them being honest about it. Doesn't change the fact that they should at least wash their hands and that if a patient notices them not, it's ok to say something.

When I had my PE and was in the hospital, a nurse was changing my IV. She washed her hands first, but didn't put gloves on and when she changed my IV port, my blood squirted all over, including on hands and scrubs. I said, oh my god, you should have gloves on. She said she doesn't wear them when doing IV stuff because it's hard to feel what you're doing particularly on older patients or really ill patients who don't have good veins. That may be why some health care professionals don't wear gloves.

I worked for an endodontist and peridontist office on Saturdays cleaning equipment when I was in college and sometimes I'd have to assist when someone needed to be seen on a Saturday due to a problem. One woman was having pain so she came in and sat in the waiting room eating from her Burger King bag waiting to be seen. I was so grossed out, knowing I was going to have to participate in that chewed food fill mouth. Some people are foul man. I can't believe medical staff wouldn't want to wear gloves just to avoid that kind of thing.

My brother is a paramedic now, but is also is a firefighter and you'd not believe some of the things he's seen and been exposed to. Of course, he saves lives and helps people which is the pay off for dealing with the down side. When my mom had a lumpectomy last year, my brother and I took care of her post surgery, and he brought his own box of gloves to wear when helping to change her bandages, to protect her, and to avoid anything getting on him. He said he so used to wearing gloves that it's just habit.

I watch women coming out of public bathroom stalls talking on their cell phones. I mean, people are gross. Not enough latex gloves in the world.

Not sure where exactly you have been in hospital where the staff don't wash their hands... I work in a hospital in Australia and they are really really strict about hand hygiene. They even have designated people who monitor this.

The hospitals in our area crack down too. Some go so far as to chastise employees who are just looking in the room quickly as they make their rounds to make sure the patient is okay. I am talking about putitng one foot in the room ,looking and proceeding down the hall. I know a couple of health care workers who were in trouble for this for not putting the gloves on. Had they seen something that needed their attention, they would have grabbed the gloves, put them on and proceeded into the room to give care. I guess it's better for the hospitals to be overboard on this issue versus not enough.

Yeah, I don't think there is this catastrophic hygiene breach running rampant. Sure there are cases we all hear about here and there, but I think that's more the exception than the rule. I am not terribly paranoid so I don't evaluate this every time I go to the doctor.

I take public transportation to and from work. If the germs from that alone haven't killed me yet, I think I'm gonna make it after shaking my doctor's un-gloved hand.

Yeah, but the germs commuting with you are not competing in the Germ Olympics like the ones at the hospital.

My dad's been in and out of 3-4 hospitals in the last year. Dad himself has reminded some staff to wash hands, but they've been contrite, not nasty.

I have seen his docs wash their hands, use the hand sanitizer, then glove up.....so it does happen.

I should add that the time needed to wash and glove up is a good time to greet patient and family and discuss latest developments. It's 2 minutes, but some staff don't even take that time.

Well, I was kind of being funny, actually. But seriously, I've seen some shit on the bus. Literally and figuratively.

Cave76

There are some nasty infections out there that are completely antibiotic resistant. Like this one;

http://www.npr.org/2012/09/18/161355297/hospitals-fight-to-stop-superbugs-spread

"And NIH, after the nice description from Maryn McKenna, they literally did everything. They hired nine, you know, infection preventionists to monitor hand hygiene around the clock and make sure everyone was doing everything they were supposed to do and did numerous things, ripped out plumbing, and yet they still weren't able to halt it."