Selecting The Right Glove for the Right Reason

Gloves are the single most important product you purchase to protect your staff and patients. In fact, it's likely that your facility uses more gloves than any other supply. When you consider all the hands you need to cover and all of your glove choices, choosing the right gloves for the right reasons can be a complex job.

The first consideration when choosing a medical glove should be the level of barrier protection required by a procedure or task. Potentially infectious, high-risk situations can stress glove material and affect glove barrier effectiveness. The FDA requires that medical gloves meet certain performance criteria. These include process average AQL (pinhole rate), tensile strength, elongation, thickness and length.

Additional criteria that are not required by the FDA but that can be helpful in glove selection are:

	Bacteriophage penetration resistance
	Puncture resistance
	Tear resistance
	Chemical resistance
	Residual levels of accelerators
	ISO 9001/9002 certification

This section contains resources to help make your choices easier. We have resources on chemical resistance of glove materials and how to select the proper glove. We also provide important information on recent advancements in glove technology, such as the development of new glove materials and polymer coatings.

Note: The information provided here is for general educational purposes and is not a substitute for specific medical advice by a physician. The information, programs and policies reviewed here are for illustrative purposes only. Each healthcare institution should tailor its policies, guidelines and approach to its unique circumstances, taking into account its facilities, employees and patient population.