For 80 residents over 14 days, plan on roughly 3,400–4,000 examination gloves, 1,100–1,600 procedure masks and 500–900 isolation gowns, depending on care acuity. The arithmetic is not mysterious — it is gloves per resident-contact day, mask per staff shift with resident contact, gown per contact-plus isolation episode — but the numbers only hold if you count the same way every time. This article sets out the formula, the per-resident assumptions behind it, and the case counts to order.
Whether you buy the lines individually or as a standing order, the practical unit for a home this size is the case: the nitrile examination gloves, 3.5 mil, 1,000 per case come 1,000 gloves per case, which makes the fortnightly requirement easy to convert into boxes and shelves. If you would rather have the numbers worked out against your own census, the clinic supply and cost planner does the same calculation interactively.
How many gloves does an 80-resident home use in two weeks?
Gloves are driven by resident contacts, not by resident count. A reasonable planning band for long-term care is 2 to 4 pairs of gloves per resident per day for personal care, medication rounds, toileting and feeding support, with higher-acuity or outbreak periods pushing toward the upper end. That gives:
| Line | Planning rate per resident per day | 80 residents × 14 days | Case equivalent |
|---|---|---|---|
| Examination gloves (4 mil) | 3–4 pairs (6–8 gloves) | 6,700–9,000 gloves | 7–9 cases of 1,000 |
| Procedure masks (3-ply) | 1–1.4 masks per staff contact shift | 1,100–1,600 masks | 3–5 cases of 350–500 |
| Isolation gowns (Level 1–2) | 0.4–0.8 gowns | 450–900 gowns | 9–18 packs of 50 |
| Hand hygiene and wipes | Rooms × touch points | By room turnover | Case per 2–4 weeks |
Two of those three lines are sensitive to staffing rather than to residents: a home running 12 hour shifts across three units consumes masks and gowns per shift, so a staff vacancy quietly reduces consumption while a new admissions wave raises it. Track both.
Why glove consumption is the number that surprises homes
Gloves dominate the fortnightly order because they are used in pairs and changed between residents, tasks and soiled-to-clean transitions. A 40-bed unit on a medication round can consume 60–80 gloves before breakfast. Multiply that by every round, every shift and every day, and gloves routinely account for more than half the total consumable volume even though the unit price is low. That is why glove sizing and fit matter commercially as well as clinically: staff who find a size uncomfortable tend to double-glove or discard pairs early, and both habits raise consumption.
Order a size mix rather than a single size. Most Canadian care homes settle near 20% small, 40% medium, 30% large and 10% extra large, then adjust from the count of boxes opened per month.
How do you convert gloves, masks and gowns into case quantities?
Work in cases, not units. A fortnightly order for a home of this size usually looks like 7–9 cases of gloves, 3–5 cases of masks and 9–18 packs of gowns, with a one-to-two week buffer held on site. The buffer matters more in long-term care than in a clinic because a single outbreak can double gown consumption for 10 days, and delivery lead times do not shorten when that happens.
Set a par level per unit, not per facility, and count weekly. A home that only counts the central store discovers an empty shelf when a unit runs out mid-shift, and the emergency substitution that follows usually costs more per unit than the line you plan to buy.
What changes the numbers most?
Acuity mix. A dementia unit with high personal-care load sits at the top of the glove range; a retirement home with independent residents sits nearer the bottom.
Isolation episodes. Each resident on contact precautions adds gowns and masks per shift, not per day. One resident for two weeks can add 80–150 gowns to the order.
Task organisation. A care home that pre-stages a cart with gloves and wipes per unit uses less than one where staff walk to the store mid-round.
Standard of dress. Gown use for non-isolation tasks varies between homes. Fix the rule in writing and the gown line becomes predictable; leave it to individual judgement and it swings by a factor of two.
How should a home place the fortnightly order?
Order against the count, not the calendar. Take the previous two weeks' actual issues per unit, add the buffer, and place the order. If you are buying for the first time, start with the middle of the ranges above, then reconcile after four weeks — by then you will have real per-unit numbers, and the second month's order writes itself.
A standing order arrangement is usually worth setting up once the pattern is stable: fixed case quantities per line, a delivery interval, and a named person who owns the count. For multi-site homes, ordering the same lines under one account also means the consumption numbers are comparable between sites, which is where the real savings appear.
Related reading
Frequently Asked Questions
How many gloves does an 80-resident care home use per two weeks?
Plan for 6,700–9,000 examination gloves, which is about 7–9 cases of 1,000, based on 3–4 pairs per resident per day. Higher-acuity units sit at the top of that range.
How many masks and gowns should an 80-resident home hold?
Roughly 1,100–1,600 procedure masks and 450–900 isolation gowns per fortnight, plus a one-to-two week buffer. Isolation episodes add gowns and masks per shift, so keep more gowns than the baseline suggests.
Should a home order gloves in one size?
No. Stock a size mix, commonly about 20% small, 40% medium, 30% large and 10% extra large, then adjust from the boxes actually opened each month.
How much buffer stock should a care home keep?
One to two weeks on site for gloves, masks and gowns. The buffer covers outbreak surges and delivery delays, both of which raise consumption without warning.
CliniEco Medical is a licensed medical device establishment (MDEL #35334).
Use the clinic supply and cost planner to turn your census into case quantities, and print the fortnightly supply checklist for the store room. For a facility or multi-site account, open a wholesale and institutional supply account to order gloves, masks and gowns by the case. Reselling? become a distributor.
Wholesale and institutional supply · Which glove size mix should a Canadian clinic stock? · How many exam gloves does a family practice use in a year? · Case review: how an LTC home rebuilt its isolation gown stocking
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