Which action best prevents cross-contamination when finishing care?

• A. Rinse gloves with water and reuse.
• B. Immediately perform hand hygiene after removing gloves.
• C. Wipe gloves with an alcohol wipe and reuse.
• D. Skip hand hygiene if hands look clean.

Answer: (B)

The main point is that hand hygiene immediately after removing gloves is essential to prevent cross-contamination when finishing care. Gloves can pick up pathogens during use, and removing them can transfer those microbes to your hands if you don’t clean them right away. Performing hand hygiene at that moment reduces the risk of spreading bacteria to yourself, others, or subsequent tasks.

Why the other ideas aren’t safe: gloves are designed for a single-use barrier, and reusing them or attempting to sanitize them (with water, by wiping with an alcohol wipe, or similar) does not reliably remove pathogens and can allow the contamination to persist or transfer during glove removal. Relying on hands to look clean is a trap because many microbes aren’t visible to the eye, so you should always perform hand hygiene after finishing care, regardless of how clean your hands appear.