How to wear a medical gown? Find out the answers here
Have you ever noticed that doctors, nurses, surgeons and patients wear a particular gown, have you ever wondered why and what each one is for? In this article we will answer these questions and also how to wear a medical gown.
You should know that, in medicine, depending on the position, the job or the situation – degree of contamination – to which a user may be exposed, different types of uniforms are used.
It is important to understand what each garment is for and in which case they should be used, and the best way to understand this is to know how they are manufactured.
Thanks to a very useful article published in Wanrooe Medical, we have decided to create this guide to facilitate your understanding of hospital clothing and medical gowns in general.
Pay close attention because this is information quite like general culture, but, if you are a member of a medical staff, it is essential that you know every last detail.
Types of medical gowns
In general, there are three types of personal protective clothing commonly used in the healthcare world. We are referring, of course, to the insulated hospital gown, protective clothing and surgical gowns. It should be noted that these are all disposable products.
It is important to know how to differentiate the functions of each of them, for health safety reasons.
Functions
Disposable isolation gowns
These protective devices are used by medical personnel to prevent contamination by blood, body fluids and other substances. They are also used to protect patients from the possibility of contracting infections.
Disposable protective clothing
This is used by medical personnel when treating patients suffering from infectious diseases, in order to protect medical workers from the risk of infection.
Disposable surgical gown
The disposable surgical gown is primarily a protection for both the medical staff and the patient, as it acts as a protective barrier, and is used during surgery to prevent infection or contact with body fluids.
How to use them
Disposable isolation gowns
This type of protective clothing is used in contact with patients suffering from infectious diseases transmitted by contact, patients who need protective isolation and is essential to protect medical personnel from splashes of blood, secretions or excretions.
Disposable protective clothing
This type of clothing is mostly used when in contact with patients suffering from an infectious disease or with a confirmed suspicion/diagnosis of SARS, Ebola, MERS, H7N9 avian influenza or similar conditions.
Disposable surgical gown
These are gowns for protocol use in the operating room, which are aseptically sterilized to ensure the safety of both the patient and the medical staff.
How are they manufactured?
Insulating gowns
They are usually made of a special material known as nonwoven fabric, which ensures greater protection.
The gown must protect the trunk and, consequently, prevent contamination of the medical personnel’s clothing. It must also be tear and abrasion resistant for 100% protection of the wearer.
Single-use protective clothing
Industry regulations indicate that single-use protective clothing consists of a hooded shirt and a pair of pants.
Elastic bands are required to tighten the wrist and ankle areas to ensure greater containment and safety.
In addition, according to current regulations, this protective clothing must be waterproof and resistant to tearing and abrasion.
Disposable surgical gown
Disposable surgical gowns must be waterproof and sterile, but must also have elastic wrists to leave room for the sterile gloves worn by medical personnel.
Why disposable material?
Explaining what a microbiological threat is would be the subject of an entire article and I am sure we will write it in the near future. For the time being, we would like to invite you to understand the importance of handling with caution.
Why is disposal necessary?
Disposable medical devices are made of materials strong enough to prevent contact of the user’s skin with microbiological threats.
However, disposable products do not eliminate threats, they only block them. At the end of their use, these microbiological threats are present on the surface of the materials and, for this reason, must be disposed of!
Is it possible to clean a disposable product?
In theory it is possible, with the right chemicals and manufacturing process. It is neither feasible nor recommended that a person perform this cleaning at home.
Disposable products are manufactured with the specific intention of being discarded after a single use, for this very reason.
You may be interested in reading: 4 medical uses and benefits of blue nitrile gloves.
Protocol for the use of a medical gown
When entering an operating room or any sterile area, it is necessary to follow a protocol that covers everything from hand washing to how to put on a hospital gown.
In the case of the medical gown, the correct way to use it is to go to an area where the gown can be opened without risk of contamination and then, to ensure an aseptic dressing, these 9 steps must be followed:
- Place both hands in the sleeve openings. Keep the gown away from the body and wait for it to open completely.
- Place hands and forearms in the sleeves; keeping hands at shoulder level and away from the body.
- To put on open gloves, pull cuff to thumb level; to put on closed gloves, push hands to the edge of the cuff.
- The wearer should pull the gown over the shoulders, touching only the inside of the gown.
- Attach the Velcro fastener.
- Tie the inner belt of the gown.
- After putting on gloves, pick up the gown with both hands, separate the left outer belt from the gown and hold the belt in the left hand.
- Hand the anti-contamination tag to the staff member, then turn three-quarters to the left as the staff member extends the full length of the outer belt.
- Retrieve the outer belt by removing it from the hazardous materials tag held by the staff person and attach it to the other outer belt on the left side.
This concludes today’s article and completes the information on surgeon gowns, but we are ready for a new round of articles on other medical gowns such as the classic hospital patient gown and the nursing uniform.
Would you like to learn more about all these types of scrubs? Don’t miss our next articles! Every month we bring you more information about the exciting world of medical facility biosafety items.
At Divocco Medical we are experts in medical disposables and we always adapt to the particular needs of consumers.
