Monday, November 28, 2016

Nurses: How do you don gloves with a different hand?


How does a nurse or nursing student with short, partial or missing fingers; or who wears a prosthetic hand don gloves in a healthcare setting?

The question was posted to a group of nurses with disabilities. The responses included the following: 

"You could use different size gloves...one for each hand. I have no fingers on my right hand and use different sizes to have less latex in the way."

"Tuck the extra tips of the gloves in. I'm missing a finger (had it amputated due to cancer) and I just tuck the extra finger in. No one notices."

 "I have two fingers on my right hand. I turn the glove inside out and slide it over my two short digits and the other finger sleeves are tucked in automatically."

Susan Fleming, RN, PhD., a nurse who was born missing her left hand demonstrates how she dons sterile gloves in this article: http://www.exceptionalnurse.com/DegreesofSuccess.pdf

Dr. Fleming also demonstrates donning sterile gloves in this video "Nursing with the hand you're given"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d3AfRRNxLWg

An article about surgeons with amputated fingers, published in 1982, may also be helpful.

Brown, P.S. (1982). Less than ten--Surgeons with amputated fingers. The Journal of Hand Surgery, 7(1), 31-37.

http://www.newyorkinjurycasesblog.com/uploads/file/2012-04-13%20(1).pdf

If you are a nurse with a similar challenge, please feel free to add a comment or suggestion to this post so others can benefit. Or, email me at ExceptionalNurse@aol.com.

With thanks!

 Donna


2 comments:

  1. I didn't find any gloves that are easy fit to my hands.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Can I become a nurse even if I have a short one finger on my left hand?

    ReplyDelete