The Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) leadership team and clinical nurses at the Penn State Hershey (PA) Medical Center sought to reduce system waste by redesigning the unit’s acquisition, distribution, and storage of supplies. After discussions, they implemented the following methods:

• Developed an interprofessional supply and distribution process to decrease supply waste.
• Reviewed supplies available at admission and related costs.
• Assessed cost of waste incurred with discharges and transfers.
• Collaborated with transport to decrease par levels of bedside supplies upon admission or transfer in.
• Removed specific supplies that could be located elsewhere.
• Presented plan to decrease supply waste and costs for the unit.

Clinical nursing staff collaborated with the interprofessional team, analyzed costs of bedside supplies, and eliminated items nonessential in the care of every patient. Relocation and storage redesign allowed quick access for urgent patient care needs; reducing costs of unused, discarded supplies and saved over $45,000 within a year.

Read the entire project report at https://scholarsphere.psu.edu/resources/f48564d4-14f2-452c-8f09-31c6ffa72fbb