In this final assignment for the Project, include an overview of the Project, details on the Project (organizing framework), and a summary of the plans for the implementation and evaluation of the Pro

Running head: REDUCING WASTE OF SUPPLIES 0

Reducing Waste of Supplies Placed by Bedsides

NUR4201: Leadership, Management, and Professional Development

September 11, 2019

Overview of Project

Although nurses’ main duties are to provide quality care and safety environment for patients in the unit, there are other responsibilities attached that makes the main goal possible. Without necessary medical supplies, it will be impossible to provide quality care to patients. This includes managing the supplies available in the unit. This project provides an action change that can be implemented in units to reduce waste of supplies. Change involves arranging medical care supplies in a bedside cart and create a systematic manner of restocking the supplies. According to Cockerham et al, there is a lot of supply waste generated in hospitals from the point where a patient is admitted to the point where they are discharged; waste that could be avoided through a systematic process (Cockerham, Haverland, & Solvang, 2016). Cockerham et al describes a system that includes providing a bedside cart that would contain medical supplies for a patient at a time. After discharging the patient, the bedside cart would be sent to a supply room where unused supplies will be kept intact and used supplies would be restocked. The restocked cart would be returned to a new room ready for another patient. This process would eliminate nurses’ hassle of running to get supplies in the middle of taking care of patients and manage supply resources for the units (Cockerham, Haverland, & Solvang, 2016).

The project is designed to increase the pace of productivity in the unit among nurses and decrease the cost incurred on the unit by mismanagement of supplies by actively reducing waste of supplies. A team of nurse managers, registered nurses, housekeeping workers, support workers is involved in implementing this planned changed (n.d).

Framework for Project

This project is planned on the structure of Lewin’s Change Theory of Unfreezing, Movement and Refreezing. According to the book, these three steps must be executed before a change can be implemented into the system (Marquis & Huston, 2017). The first step, which is Unfreezing, includes the nurse manager communicating the need for change to the members of the units and major stakeholders of the project. The nurse manager addresses any concerns and questions that members of the unit might have about the planned change. The next step is Movement. This step involves defining every aspect of the planned change that will constitute the execution of plan. Plans, strategies, method of overcoming resistance are all communicated to other members of the units that will be involved in implementation. Refreezing is the final step that would be used to integrate the change into the regular system of the unit (Marquis & Huston, 2017).

Implementation of Change

To implement this planned change, there must be action steps that can be taken to put the change in the system. The first step will be to inform leaders of members of the unit about the planned change, thereby completing the second step of Lewin’s change theory. Nurse manager in other units need to be communicated on the need for change, plan and strategies for the project. This communication will be distributed through an email. The initial plan was to create and distribute a brochure, however, sending out emails will be cost effective for the hospital and an easy access for managers. A detailed information on how to implement the change in their respective units will be included in the email. The nurse manager will also meet up with members of the unit to communicate about how the planned change will be implemented, especially with the fact that their duties will not be interrupted. A schedule should be created and posted in an open place where everyone can see what duties they have been assigned to as well as what time and place they need to complete the assigned task.

The next step is to evaluate the cost incurred on the units by supplies used up. The nurse manager will set up a billing system that would support and measure how the planned change has affected cost of supplies. I COULDN’T FIND A BILLING SYSTEM THAT CAN BE USED HERE.

Nurse manager would oversee allocating of task to the nurses and housekeeping. However, duties must be distributed to ensure that the procedure is a system that is easy enough not to disturb the daily activities of nurses and other personnel. Roles would be assigned to support service members randomly. Tasks would include cleaning out bedside carts, restocking the cart, accounting for the number of supplies in the supply room as well as managing the arrangement of the supply room.

The initial plan was to assign nurses to the duties of restocking, cleaning and keeping track of supplies. The goal is to increase productivity of nurses in the units; adding these duties to their schedule would counterpart the project’s goal. Therefore, the duties will be assigned to support service worker such as clinical assistant, patient service workers etc.

After a patient has been discharged from a room, the assigned nurse assistant would oversee restocking the items that has been utilized and items that has not been used will be kept untouched. Housekeeping assistants would clean out the cart periodically to reduce the risk of dirt and infection. The nurse manager would oversee the data collection of quantity of supplies. A method of quantifying the supplies will be created to keep track of the amount of supplies available and the amount utilized periodically to account for any waste.

The change must be implemented in a method that does not interfere with the duties of those involved. The interprofessional team involved in this project (nurses, nurse assistants, housekeepers) should be able to perform their regular duties as well as their assigned roles for the change. As it is important

Evaluation of Change

It is important to track and measure the outcome of a planned change to find out if the result meets the objective of the change. For this project, the nurse manager can oversee evaluating the change to find out if it leads to a decrease in supply waste. The number of supplies in the supply room before and after implementing the change can be collected at the beginning and end of the month. This would track the progress of reducing waste. If the change remains continuous, the progress of the change can be tracked through the number of supplies saved monthly.

An assessment, which will be conducted in every unit, will be provided to nurse and other health care workers to get a feedback on how the change has affected the unit. The feedback can be used to measure how the change has influenced productivity of the unit

Reference

Cockerham, M., Haverland, A., & Solvang, N. (2016). Battling Supply Waste in the ICU: A Bedside Cart Standardization Project. Journal of PeriAnesthesia Nursing, 31(1), 89. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jopan.2015.11.003

Marquis, B. L., & Huston, C. J. (2017). Leadership roles and management functions in nursing: Theory and application (9th ed.). Philadelphia: Woltes Kluwer Health.

Morrow, J., Hunt, S., Rogan, V., Cowie, K., Kopacz, J., Keeler, C., . . . Kroh, M. (n.d.). Reducing Waste in the Critical Care Setting.