Natural rubber latex: a matter of concern for nurses.

During the past 20 years, the use of protective gloves in health care has increased, as have hypersensitivity reactions to the natural rubber latex (NRL) used in glove manufacture. A study was conducted to determine what nurses who work in environments in which NRL is commonly used know about NRL, including their education about and experience with NRL-related allergies. Nurses replied to a questionnaire with 20 statements pertaining to NRL and NRL-related allergies. The results showed that the nurses had inadequate knowledge about NRL, but nurses in a specialty training program scored significantly higher than professionally active nurses.