Disposable Items

We are living in a time of heightened awareness of all things environmental. Our hospital is converting everything to disposable items. The latest thing to shock me is the disposable scissors and forceps our hospital is using. Apparently it is cheaper to buy single use only ones instead of sterilising them. To me, they look no different to the ones we use to sterilise. We are also beginning to use alot of other materials that are hard to break down eg plastic aprons, gowns and sterile drapes made of materials that take thousands of years to break down. I mean, how much equipment do we throw away at the end of doing a dressing?

No, I'm not a member of some environmental organisation. But we are supposed to be promoting health, and if we continue to fill our environment with this sort of garbage, what sort of legacy are we to be leaving our children?

[jmgrn65, RN]

I agree with you but what else should they use, it's safer for the patient as well.

Our hospital using a lot of disposable items as well. I think it would be good if hospital were more environmentally aware.

[RNperdiem, RN]

I've got a great hemostat collection. They make excellent pliers around the house. Most of them came from suture removal kits I used and the hemostat never even got touched.

[GilaRRT]

I am far from being a left leaning tree hugger; however, this is a good point. You would be foolish to deny that pollution and overuse of specific resources is a problem world wide. IMHO Some method of reusing these supplies may help. Many hospitals now use these throw away kits.

[gagezoie]

I just finished reading Chicken Soup for the Nurse's Soul Second Dose and in is a great story of a women who takes wasted hopital supplies and donates them to areas of the world that need them. The program is called MERCI and the web site is www.merci-medicalsupplies.com

If one person from each hospital reads about this then maybe we can save a little trash and save our kids, all at the cost of the hospitals who throw a little to much away.

[Quickbeam, BSN, RN]

In the years I worked in pediatrics, I learned a lot about waste from parents of chronically ill kids. Stuff that was covered while the child was in-patient was hard to come by when at home. I had many a mom take her child's used straight caths home, boil them and reuse them many times. You name it, we were asked to save it for home use.

Also, I worked in a rehab unit where we threw out an insane amount of stuff, especially egg crate mattresses. The patients never wanted them saying: "I'm not paying for it, what do I care?". A co-worker got so fed up she started taking the egg crate mattresses home, washing them and making them into dog beds for the humane society.

I'm not a crazed re-user and I appreciate patient safety. But we do throw a lot of stuff out that could have a second life.

[ZippyGBR, BSN, RN]

the single use disposible sterile scissors we get have a horrid habit of ending up in peoples sewing boxes/ fishing boxes/ desk tidy... especially when they have only been used to cut dressing materials etc...

one of the issues with organisations reprocessing items is the 'hand made' natures of what HSDUs do vs the mass produced nature of same product in single use sterile fro mthe maker , aside fro mthe liability issues of doing your own sterile tiems processing

[herecomestrouble]

Also, I worked in a rehab unit where we threw out an insane amount of stuff, especially egg crate mattresses. The patients never wanted them saying: "I'm not paying for it, what do I care?". A co-worker got so fed up she started taking the egg crate mattresses home, washing them and making them into dog beds for the humane society.

Years ago we had suggested that the used egg crates be given to the homeless,and were told that after they're washed they're not flame retardant any more and if someone got burned we could be sued.It's sad when you can't help somebody because you're afraid of being sued.

[elizabells, BSN, RN]

I've got a great hemostat collection. They make excellent pliers around the house. Most of them came from suture removal kits I used and the hemostat never even got touched.

Me too! Our umbilical line kits come with like five sets of Kelly clamps. I have some at home and some in my work bag - two of those are really good at disconnecting IV lines that are stuck together with high dextrose solutions.