I latex hypersensitivity, identify three predisposing risk factors to the development of a latex hypersensitivity, and describe two occupational measures that can help protect the latex-sensitive nurse.
Employers expect healthcare providers to follow universal precautions, including wearing gloves.
But one type of glove material, natural rubber latex, is causing a growing occupational health problem for nurses and other healthcare professionals. However, in the 1990s a barrage of articles have been published. Sensitivity to latex has even been called an occupational epidemic for healthcare workers. The latex gloves nurses wear to protect themselves can cause serious illness and even the loss of their occupation. In 1987, the national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published recommendations for universal precautions intended to prevent the transmission of bloodborne pathogens to healthcare workers.