SWFL nurse concerned improper glove use could contribute to spread

There’s a new concern in our area that could contribute to the spread of the coronavirus.

A nurse at Fawcett Memorial Hospital in Port Charlotte says people aren’t wearing their gloves properly, and they could actually be contaminating what they touch.

Nurse Erik Lundrigan said this is already a scary time for him, as he works in a hospital with COVID-19 patients and worries about bringing the virus home to his family.

“When people go in wearing gloves and they touch everything, they’re cross contaminating everything in the store, everything wherever they are,” Lundrigan said. “It just spreads it more than it helps. They could really just wash their hands.”

Lundrigan told us he’s seen people in stores all over wearing one pair of gloves, as they shop in grocery stores and in other locations. If someone is wearing them and touching several things, Lundrigan says they could actually spread bacteria and viruses from one surface to another.

“They are wearing these gloves the entire time that they are touching everything in the store, holding their wallet, their purse, the shopping carts and everything else. All they’re doing is moving any kind of bacteria or virus from one point to another”

Lundrigan says the gloves do protect individuals if they have an open sore or cut on their hands.

Lundrigan told us, while working in the hospital, they change their gloves between every patient and procedure. So to wear gloves safely, he said people would need several pairs every time they went out, changing them each time they touch a surface.

Lundrigan says if you do want to wear gloves, the safest way is to always have extras. So, every time you touch a surface, you can change them.

“In the hospital, we have to change our gloves between every patient and procedure,” Lundrigan said. “So honestly, if somebody wanted to wear gloves, they would have to carry probably about 20 pairs of gloves and then change them frequently wherever they are, whatever they’re doing.”

But he says there is a better solution.

“Your skin is a natural barrier for bacteria and viruses,” Lundrigan said. “You just have to wash your hands.”