JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — "People get a false sense of security when they wear gloves," says RN Stephanie Buchanan, an Infection Preventionist at UF Health Jacksonvile.
Her big rule: One Task. Only. Do it. Then throw away the gloves.
For example, she says, "I see people walk out of stores, talking on their phones -- with gloves on."
Then she watches them get into their cars -- still with gloves on -- and keep talking on their cellphones and start touching the steering wheel or their face.
"You're going to contaminate yourself later with whatever you touched with gloves on in the store," she says.
Your dirty gloves have now touched your phone, your steering wheel, maybe your coffee cup or your purse. Then, after you take your gloves off, you touch all that stuff and pick up the germs from your gloves.
Buchanan and her team at UF Health would rather see people practice "good hand hygiene." She says wash your hands before you get to the store, when you leave the store and after you unload your purchases at home.
But what about, say, pumping gas with gloves? Dr. Gregory Poland, Mayo Clinic's expert on infectious disease prevention, says it's a good idea to wear gloves to pump gas.
But remember ONE TASK then PITCH OUT THOSE GLOVES!