The pandemic changed health care forever. It was always important to protect your providers, but now it’s a matter of life and death. Add in supply chain issues and skyrocketing costs, and it’s never been more difficult for purchasing managers and other supply managers to balance team safety, patient care and the bottom line. Over the last two years, has your PPE supplier proven to be a reliable partner?
What is PPE?
First, let’s take a broad look at personal protective equipment, or PPE. It is obviously important to keep your health care providers safe. Much like air masks on a plane; doctors, nurses and other providers need to be healthy to care for patients. Therefore, they use masks, gloves, lab coats and other great to reduce the risk of infection. Exam gloves are an important part element of PPE.
Gloves are primarily made from three materials: nitrile, latex and vinyl. In the Medical Exam Gloves Ultimate Buyers Guide we published last year; we went into detail on all three options. For many providers, nitrile gloves are the right fit because they are lightweight and durable.
Nitrile Gloves vs. Latex
Disposable medical gloves come in a variety of styles with varying degrees of safety, comfort and durability. Latex and nitrile gloves are the most used gloves in the medical industry.
What is Nitrile?
Nitrile is an excellent material for gloves because it is more resistant to oils and acids than natural rubber. It’s also worth noting, some report this material is more tear-resistant than natural rubber materials. Plus, the use of nitrile allows for exam gloves to be ultra-thin – making blood draws more efficient for phlebotomists. Caresfield nitrile gloves are powder-free, odor-free and nonlatex, reducing the possibility of allergic reactions among patients and employees.
Nitrile gloves offer much greater resistance to punctures and chemicals, as well as protection from viruses. Most providers prefer disposable nitrile gloves over latex gloves. Latex-reducing and durable are factors, with the bonus of long shelf life. At Caresfield, we offer a number of different options, including gloves that meet ASTM D6978-05 standard for chemotherapy.
Benefits of Latex Medical Gloves
Disposable latex gloves come from the bark of mature rubber trees. Most industries have adopted latex gloves that fit user’s hands precisely and provide great sensitivity. Latex offers the highest level of protection against pathogens but weaker protection against chemicals.
Who Uses Nitrile Gloves?
Nitrile gloves can be found in nearly every avenue of the health care industry from acute to non-acute facilities. In hospitals, you’ll find them on nurses, surgeons and pharmacy staff. In nursing homes and other long-term care facilities you will find nurses, janitorial and food service staff using them. Additionally, they are commonly used among dentists, school districts, blood centers and home health care providers.
Why Caresfield?
There are three main reasons you should order nitrile gloves from Caresfield. First, we are incredibly reliable. During the first stages of the pandemic, many hospitals’ primary vendors couldn’t get gloves. Many non-acute providers were limited by strict allocations for hospitals and other care networks.
While some companies struggle to serve their customers in these challenging times, at Caresfield we work directly with importers and glove factories to make sure we are always able to meet our demand. When you place an order for an in-stock item by 2 p.m. Central, it ships the same day.
Secondly, you can’t beat our quality. Your providers have inevitably put on inferior gloves had them rip. We only offer the best quality gloves. We’re happy to send you a sample so you can see the quality for yourself!
Finally, we’re confident we have the best price on quality Nitrile gloves. Whether you need to place a one-time order or want to stabilize your supply chain with our glove supply program, we’re confident we’ll beat what you are currently paying.
Related: Caresfield Announces Glove Contract Extension with Premier Inc.
