Outpatient Surgery Magazine

OR Excellence Awards - September 2020 - Subscribe to Outpatient Surgery Magazine

Outpatient Surgery Magazine, providing current information on Surgical Services, Surgical Facility Administration, Outpatient Surgery News and Trends, OR Excellence and more.

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canvas to make creations as abstract as Jackson Pollock or as well-known as an American Flag. The impetus for the idea? A staff member was cruising Pinterest and thought it would be an awesome way to recycle biocaps. The medication vial cap project struck a chord with Ms. Wessel on a human level. "When my co- worker and I actually saw a veteran working with the materials we were saving, it was a very reward- ing moment for me," she says. "The patient was working on sizing and separating the vials, and even though recycling the items can be a tedious process, it was powerful to see firsthand that we were contributing to his rehab." • Bye-bye blue wrap. After the Ambulatory Surgical Center analyzed the waste generated from blue wrap used on OR instruments, it converted more than 80% of its trays to a reusable metal con- tainer system. The remaining blue wrap is recy- cled, which is impressive considering there is no recycling facility in the city. Staff has to load excess wrap onto a courier bus that goes to the Minneapolis VA for distribution to appropriate recycling centers. S E P T E M B E R 2 0 2 0 • O U T P A T I E N T S U R G E R Y . N E T • 4 3 HONORABLE MENTION Sustainability Started With Skin Staplers Harborview Medical Center in Seattle makes a very compelling case for regularly checking on what you're throwing out. During an inspection of its soiled utility room, staff discovered skin staplers were being tossed out with all dispos- able sharps. This seemed off to the environmen- tal services group, so they reached out to the devices' vendor rep. In fact, the skin staplers could be recycled. Instead, the vendor recom- mended placing them in separate recycling bins to reduce waste. Of course, change is never easy — especially when it involves something that's become second nature for staff. That's why the facility designated staff mem- bers as reprocessing champions, who work with the vendor rep to place collection bins at strate- gic locations throughout the facility to make reprocessing skin staplers easier. "The champions helped raise awareness and engagement with their peers with the goal of increasing collections and reducing waste," says Ketra Hayes, MSN, RN, CNOR, associate chief nursing officer and assistant administrator at Harborview. The education paid dividends. The rep told the facility an additional 1.23 tons of products were collected and diverted from land- fills, and the company's sustainability team donated 150 trees to the National Forest Foundation in the facility's name. — Jared Bilski AWARENESS ADVOCATES Harborview Medical Center relied on the help of reprocess- ing champions to educate and remind staff about a new process regarding skin staplers. Harborview Medical Center

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