Prompted by industry-wide concerns about Type I latex hypersensitivity and to prevent unintentionally exposing an allergic patient to latex, Baptist Health evaluated the System’s latex glove use, and ultimately converted to a synthetic, nitrile alternative.

Kari Morris, BSN, CNA-BC, MHA, director of medical/surgical critical care & emergency services at Baptist Health, and her team approached the system-wide implementation by preparing a business case for the conversion. To start, the team established that the cost of treating a latex allergy can be as high as $218,000 per employee1. To further build the case for conversion, Morris’ team also quantified potential cost savings associated with standardizing to a single, synthetic glove product.

In deciding on the appropriate synthetic alternative to replace the health system’s latex gloves, the Medical/Surgical Value Enhancement Team chaired by Morris, reviewed in-use and clinical studies of options including vinyl and nitrile. They concluded that nitrile was the preferred material over vinyl due to its higher level of barrier protection.

Also helping to lead the conversion, Baptist Health’s Wolfson Children’s Hospital had already shifted away from latex gloves and for the past few months had been successfully using Kimberly-Clark Sterling Nitrile exam gloves.

Following a one to two week trial period of the Sterling glove at each Baptist Health facility, the gloves received a greater than 90 percent acceptance rate. "This was an enormous project for us," said Morris. "People generally
resist change, so even though we believed nitrile was a superior barrier material, it needed to offer a latex-comparable fit and feel to be readily used by caregivers."

Before: ¬ Storage solution shows space taken by 100 traditionally packaged glove boxes.
After: ® With Sterling nitrile, the same number of gloves take up 33% less space. Increased storage space, less waste and fewer dispenser changes helps to increase efficiency.

Building the financial case

Morris worked closely with Kimberly-Clark to quantify the monetary value of allergy prevention, product standardization, environmental stewardship, packaging design and staff efficiencies.

A key benefit of the Sterling Nitrile glove is that due to its unique formulation, the glove has a reduced thickness while maintaining the strength associated with nitrile. This allows the gloves to be packaged 150 gloves to a dispenser. By standardizing to Sterling Nitrile, Baptist could potentially eliminate an estimated 44 tons of waste per year, including gloves used and packaging.

In addition to waste reduction, having 50 percent more gloves per box also frees up valuable storage space. In Baptist’s case, they were able to gain 4,200 additional cubic feet of space per year by standardizing to Sterling Nitrile exam gloves.

Yet another cost-saving benefit, by having more gloves in a standard size box it’s possible to reduce the amount of time spent restocking gloves. Based on Baptist Health’s usage, it would likely be able to restock 43,000 fewer times, saving approximately 350 hours of staff time per year.

"There are many important factors to weigh when considering a product conversion," said Morris. "Patient and staff safety are by far the primary drivers, but decreasing the amount of waste a facility generates while increasing storage space is an important benefit."

Morris and her Medical/Surgical Value Enhancement Team created a smooth transition from latex to nitrile by understanding the clinical issues involved and by working with their vendor partner to understand the benefits to the business of delivering care. They identified key conversion drivers and communicated a rationale to hospital administration and staff members that included the following points:

Kristin McTammany, RN, and Kari Morris, BSN, CNA-BC, MHA, director of medical, surgical and critical care services, Baptist Health

• By eliminating latex gloves, caregivers and patients were not at risk of a latex-glove-related allergic reaction, and their chances of developing latex sensitivity over time were reduced.

• A better alternative to latex had been identified that appeared to provide the fit, feel, tactile sensitivity and barrier protection of latex.

• Standardizing to one non-surgical glove and minimizing the number of comparable products in the System would reduce confusion over selecting the right product.

• Standardization would also make it possible for the system to reduce waste and gain storage space.

• Packaging design would free up the staff to spend more time delivering care, not restocking gloves.

Once the clinical, environmental and financial cases were presented to the system’s administration, conversion was approved.

"Converting an entire healthcare system’s gloves is a huge undertaking," said Morris. "Because our due diligence was designed to support both clinical and business objectives, we were able to present a successful case."

Morris continued, "In the end, we believe that going latex-free was the right thing to do, and the emergence of better alternatives to latex is making that possible now. When you add the increased safety, cost savings, space and waste savings that can be realized, making the case to convert was compelling."