Question

Analyze how at least three specific innovative, cost-reduction strategies or ideas would reduce waste in your clinical setting? What challenges to implementation would you anticipate as a nurse in a leadership position?

Answer 1

Managing hospital waste is now a major problem or the hospital mainly for the nurses. Due to emergence of new diseases globally, the count of patient visiting the clinical settings has been increased. Managing resources and reducing waste in healthcare settings is crucial for nurses. They are mainly tasked with delivering productive care and improving patient safety in healthcare delivery system. But, they also have an important role in the management of waste because of possibilities of spreading of diseases. By following these methods, waste can be reduced.

1. Use of reusable products in place of single-use products. The reusable products such as needles and sharps can be re-used after disinfection. So, by using re-used needles the waste can be reduced to some extent.

2. Education on patients about the type of the disease they have, and how to improve their quality of life can be done to reduce waste in hospital settings. For instance; for a diabetic patient, education can be given on the type of food they should have, the disease related complaints and co-morbidities. So that patient can be aware of their intensity of diseases and disease related complications such as foot ulcers can be avoided.

3. Recycled materials or products should be purchased for both patient and hospital uses. By ding this, waste reduction can be made effectively and efficiently.

To be in a leadership position, the nurse should be able to handle a risky situation and also should have enough skills and knowledge to train other members in the team to have a quality care. a) Conflict of interest occur because of different ideas and beliefs within the team members. So, the leader should give them opportunity to reveal their own ideas and opinion about the task. b) Lack of skills to follow certain rules or laws. In this case, the team leader can train them to get adequate knowledge to produce a better outcome. c) Discrimination should be avoided within the team. The team leader should give the team members equal opportunities and task for the quality of production.