I just shadowed for a private in-home caregiving position for a quadriplegic gentleman to observe his morning routine, which was quite involved. I found it odd that the peri-care (and in fact, all care) is being done without gloves. The man himself is very cognizant and particular about all his care- he is the one who hires his own staff and is a strong self-advocate. The caregiver I was shadowing simply said that gloves aren't used because there would be so many glove changes necessary, so instead the routine is to wash hands at different stages. My impression was that this was not her idea, but rather she was instructed by the client to do it this way. So, I'm curious to know if this is an appropriate/accepted technique in the larger community. I've been a caregiver for more than 10 years, with many different clients, but this is a first for me.
Also, if you are stopping multiple times during a procedure to wash your hands, you are almost doubling the amount of time it takes to 'do the job'. The cost of the gloves is minimal!
The gloves protect BOTH client and CG. I had one client who wanted to be 'bare handed' cleaned, and I was really quick to note that he had some underlying 'desires' and so I told him that HIS CG would take care of his needs when he came.
I gloved up when caring for my FIL and the same for my DH when he went through a liver transplant. It just became natural to do so.
(And--it must be Science Fair time-my gson is doing almost that exact same project. I gave him the idea and what swayed him to do it was when he asked me if the petri dishes would stink. I said "Oh, yeah, they're gonna get gross real fast" and he was hooked. He's swabbing surfaces and then seeing what cleaners work best---Sunday night he was choosing random things to swab. He's a clean kid, but seeing the bacteria that will grow out almost immediately--he'll learn a good lesson.)
" My impression was that this was not her idea, but rather she was instructed by the client to do it this way."
Also, creepy!!
When my daughter was in Jr Highschool she did a science project using soap. She first stuck her finger into a peri dish. Then she washed a finger with ordinary soap and stuck it into a peri dish, did the same thing with Dial and soap our doctor used in his office which was the same thing used in the hospital. The results after a few days, of course the germs using just her finger filled the dish and the ordinary soap was close behind. Dial did pretty well but the soap from the doctor's office killed most of the germs. So, you could wash all day and if not the right soap, you aren't killing the germs.
This is so gross.
If the client expects his caregivers to clean and change him bare-handed so he can save money on gloves, I'd say no to this position. No matter how much they're paying.
I've been an in-home caregiver for a very long time. I have never touched a client without wearing gloves. I do not feed or even comb a client's hair without them.
Do not take the job if no gloves is expected.
Not only is it absolutely disgusting, but working without gloves can spread sickness and be dangerous to the caregiver.