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CS83
Recycle: Transform Used Equipment to Help People in Need
By C. Nievera; Barnes-Jewish Hospital at Washington University Medical Center, St. Louis, MO
For further information, please contact: charito54@yahoo.com
Problem: As a nurse from a third world country, the author is aware of the acute lack of supplies that foreign hospitals contend with as they try to care for many poor patients. Government aid is seldom enough to cover even the basic minimum that we consider essential in the United States. Many foreign hospitals rely on charities and donations from private businesses. In spite of this, the needs are greater than the resources.
Description: Critical care units and operating rooms are the biggest generators of waste in a hospital. Clean but expired, or opened but unused supplies are often directed to the incinerator or to trash landfills because it is expensive to re-package or re-sterilize them. Some of this is regulated medical waste with very high disposal costs. Various rules in the United States limit which medical materials may be reprocessed. Diverting these supplies to people in need is a way both to save hospital disposal costs and to protect the environment. Old medical equipment can have a second life if sent to a country in need. Because of personal contacts overseas, this nurse works with our hospital to provide clean supplies and outdated equipment to several healthcare organizations in the Philippines. She also sends nursing magazines, journals and books to help both nursing students and professional nurses update themselves with the latest issues and trends in American nursing. The costs of shipping the supplies are subsidized in part by the local chapter of the Philippine Nurses Association.
Evaluation & Outcome: This nurse has sent many cartons to the Philippines that contain older models of defibrillators and pacemakers. Expired but sterile pulmonary artery catheters, disposable operating room equipment for heart surgery and other related supplies have also made their way across the Pacific. Our hospital is spared the expense of disposing of these items as waste. Through this project we are able to show that we not only care about our environment but we also help people who are in need.Poster Presentation: Click on the icon below to launch
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