Sustainability interventions in nursing wards
General resources
Reducing medication cup use
Medication is often administered several times a day, and a new medication cup is used for each dose. This generates a large amount of waste and is often unnecessary, as a medication cup can frequently be reused for the same patient.
Intervention
Reduce the use of medication cups by making a medicine cup patient-specific and reusable.
Exclusion: Reusing medicine cups is not suitable for drinks and ground medication.
Implementation approach
- Look at the implementation approach for reducing the use of a product.
- In the implementation plan, describe alternative locations for medication cups and encourage awareness by storing the cups inside the medication trolley (out of sight). Place a note at the original location stating: “Medication cups are available in the patient room.”
- Consult the step-by-step guide for more information on setting goals, implementation, and evaluation.
Environmental impact
Measured in CO2-emissions by reducing the number of medicine cups. Want to know more about the environmental impact? See the bottom of this page for more information.
The environmental impact has been calculated for one 30ml medicine cup
- 1 plastic medicine cup = 0.0112 kg CO2-eq
- 1 paper medicine cup = 0.0015 kg CO2-eq
It is best to dispose of paper medicine cups with residual waste.
Reducing 1,000 plastic cups saves
11.2
kg CO2-eq
and is equivalent to driving 57 km
Reduction of 1,000 papers saves cups
1.5
kg CO2-eq
and is equivalent to driving 8 km
When is it implemented?
This intervention is considered implemented when the set target has been achieved, meaning fewer medication cups are used compared to before implementation, and the difference in CO₂-equivalent (kg) has been calculated.
How is this measured?
The environmental impact of this intervention can be determined using purchasing data on the number of medication cups. See the section Measuring an intervention using purchasing data for more information.
Note: Other interventions may influence the results of this one. If the Paper medication cup intervention is implemented at the same time, it may affect the purchasing data. Implement the Paper medication cup intervention at a different time to measure the effect accurately.
Resources
- Click here for a hospital tour from St Jansdal showing how medication cups are reused in patient rooms (see ‘tab Patiëntenkamer – medicijncupjes').
View our other interventions
Nursing practice
Containers made from recycled plastic for specific hospital waste
Nursing wards produce a lot of waste, including specific hospital waste (SZA). Nurses collect this waste in separate SZA tanks, also known as Wiva barrels, recognisable by the blue barrel with a yellow lid. A more sustainable alternative made from recycled plastic, recognisable by its grey colour, has been developed.
Nursing practice
Reusable non-sterile suture removal set
Sutures can be removed with sterile disposable materials such as gauze, cotton swabs, tweezers, and scissors or a stitch cutter. The tweezers and scissors do not need to be sterile and can be replaced by clean, reusable ones that are cleaned and disinfected. This means the final sterilisation step is omitted after cleaning and disinfection. Mechanical cleaning (thermal disinfection) is preferred over manual cleaning.
Monitoring parameters
Reusable transport bag for laboratory samples
Nurses collect various samples for diagnostic testing. For transport to the laboratory, different single-use containers such as cups, bags, or kidney trays are currently used and then discarded. A reusable transport container is a more sustainable alternative.
