How to wear and remove a protective apron

Nowadays,Disposable plastic protective aprons play an important role in personal protective equipment (PPE) for most hospital staff.Due to the potential risk of exposure to a variety of hazards,workers in hospital are often supposed to wear suitable disposable plastic protective aprons.

This article contains the following:

• How to apply a protective apron?

• How to remove a protective apron?

• Should hospital staff often change their protective aprons?

How to apply a protective apron?

• Maintain hand hygiene.

• Remove the protective apron from the paper roll or dispenser. Open outwards, making sure that the inner surface faces the patient to prevent any contamination on its outer surface from coming into contact with the patient.Place the neck ring on your head.

• Position the apron so that it covers the front of the body as much as possible.

• Tie the belt around the back and secure the apron in place.

How to remove a protective apron?

If disposable gloves are used, they should be removed first.

• Broken neck ring and waist belt.

• Roll the protective apron down from the chest to fold the contaminated outer surface inward. Avoid touching the outer surface of the apron with your hands.

• Put the protective apron in the hazardous waste bin.

• Maintain hand hygiene.

Should hospital staff often change their protective aprons?

Several studies have shown that the clothes of health care workers may be contaminated with potential pathogenic microorganisms, such as Staphylococcus aureus.

Protective aprons are also part of the personal protective equipment regulations for healthcare professionals.

Therefore, plastic apron is part of generally accepted evidence-based standards, guidelines and regulations for infection prevention and control. They recommend that when there is a risk that medical staff's clothing may be exposed to blood, body fluids, secretions and excreta, a disposable protective apron or gown must be worn based on a risk assessment.

Such guidelines also recommend that between the care provided to each patient, the apron must be carefully replaced and removed to prevent the spread of microorganisms, and when cleaning different areas (such as bedrooms, bays, toilets, kitchens, and clinical areas).

Many policies also recommend the use of different colored protective aprons to help ensure that changes are made between the patient and the surgery, such as different colors for patient care, isolation, dining, bathroom and kitchen areas.