SICU and Surgery Waste Reduction Program

The Nursing Staff of Surgery 18 North and SICU 18 South requested Materials Management to assist in the development of a Supply Cost Awareness Program to help them manage resources more efficiently and effectively on their units.

Nursing and Materials Management worked together to develop a "Cost Awareness Program". The goal of this program was to assure better utilization of available resources through product cost awareness and product waste reduction both in dollars spent and environmental impact.

18 North Surgery and 18 South SICU were identified as the "Pilot Units" for this program because they represent 10% of the supplies used in all in patient units.

They identified and cataloged the products that were left unused after patient discharge. Materials Management identified the costs associated with the supplies and Nursing developed a training program to train staff on waste reduction.

In one month, the total waste was decreased by 17% in Surgery and 21% in the SICU. The decrease in waste equates to a savings of over $14,000 for the month studied and half ton less waste to be sent to a landfill.