Planning/Implementation:
Gowning:
A team member in sterile gown and gloves may assist the surgeon by taking the following steps: Open the hand towel and lay it on the surgeon’s hand, being careful not to touch the hand. Unfold t.h0e gown carefully, holding it at the neckband. Keeping your hands on the outside of the Gown under a protective cuff of the neck and shoulder area, offer the inside of the gown to the surgeon. He or she slips the arms into the sleeves. Release the gown. The surgeon holds arms outstretched while he circulator pulls the gown onto the shoulder and adjusts the sleeves so that cuffs are properly placed. In doing so, only the inside of the gown is touched at the seams.
Gloving:
Pick up the right glove, grasp it firmly, with the fingers under the everted cuff. Hold the palm of the glove toward the surgeon. Stretch the cuff sufficiently for the surgeon to introduce the hand. Avoid touching the hand by holding your thumbs out. Exert upward pressure as the surgeon plunges the hand into the glove. Unfold the everted glove cuff over the cuff of the sleeve. Repeat for the left hand. If a sterile vest is needed, hold it for the surgeon to slip the hands into the armholes. Be careful not to contaminate gloved at the neck level. If the gown is a wraparound, assist the surgeon.
Occasionally a contaminated gown must be changed during a surgical procedure. The circular unfastens the neck and waist. Grasped at the shoulders, the gown is always removed first. The gloves are removed using glove-to-glove and then skin-to-skin technique. If only the sleeve is contaminated, a sterile sleeve maybe put on over the contaminated one.
The gown is always removed before the gloves at the end of the surgical procedure. The circular unfastens the neck and back closures of the gown so the wearer does not contaminate his or her scrub suit. If wearing a wraparound gown, the wearer unfastens the waist closure n front. The gown is always removed inside out to protect the arms and scrub suit from contaminated outside of the gown. To remove: Grasp the right shoulder of the loosened gown with the left hand and pull the gown downward from the shoulder and off the right arm, turning the sleeve inside out. Turn the outside of the gown away from the body with flexed elbows. Grasp left shoulder with the right hand and remove the gown entirely pulling it off inside out. Discard in a laundry hamper or in a trash receptacle (if disposable).
