How to put on sterile gloves
Other platforms explain it with text and video. In VMS you practice it on the patient.
Sterile gloving follows one rule: only sterile touches sterile. Every step comes from that.
Step by step
Prepare
Clean your hands. Check the package is dry, intact and not expired. [1]
Open the package
On a clean, dry surface at waist height. Open the inner wrapper touching only the outer edges, cuffs toward you. [1]
First glove
With your non-dominant hand, pick up the dominant glove by the inside of the folded cuff and slide it on. Do not touch the outside. [1]
Second glove
Slide the gloved fingers under the cuff of the other glove (sterile to sterile) and pull it on. [1]
Adjust
Fix the fingers and unfold the cuffs touching only sterile surfaces. [1]
Stay sterile
Hands above the waist and in sight. If you touch anything non-sterile, change gloves. [1]
Common errors
- Touching the outside of the first glove with a bare hand.
- Dropping the hands below the waist.
- Continuing after a possible contamination.
Practice it in VMS
In VMS you do this on the patient, not on paper: every step goes on the checklist with a score, and in Teach mode Blocky tells you what comes next.
VMS cases that train this skill
Sources
Steps adapted from Open RN, Nursing Skills 2e (Chippewa Valley Technical College), licensed under CC BY 4.0. VMS is not affiliated with these organizations. Updated: 2026-10-11.