Sustainability interventions in nursing wards
Monitoring parameters
Reusable pulse oximeters
Measuring a patient’s oxygen saturation is an essential part of patient care. Due to their high consumption in hospitals, disposable pulse oximeters have a considerable environmental impact.
Intervention
Replace disposable saturation sensors with reusable saturation sensors. Exclusion: the neonatology department because of the different sizes of saturation sensors in neonates.
Exclusion: pediatric departments because of the different sizes of saturation sensors used in infants and neonates.
Implementation approach
Look at the approach for implementing a (reusable) product and 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 disposable saturation sensors and reusing saturation sensors. Want to know more about the environmental impact? See the bottom of this page for more information.
Current situation
Measure saturation once with a disposable saturation sensor (adhesive sensor) = 0.19 kg CO2-eq
New situation
Measure saturation once with a reusable saturation sensor (clip) and clean = 0.02 kg CO2-eq
-90% CO2
The environmental impact of the disposable saturation sensor is approximately 10 times higher than that of the reusable sensor.
Measuring three times a day for a year with a reusable sensor instead of disposable measurements saves
186
kg CO2-eq
and is equivalent to driving 955 km
When is it implemented?
This intervention was implemented when nursing wards in the hospital switched to reusable pulse oximeters and the difference in kg of CO2 equivalent has been calculated.
How is this measured?
The environmental impact of this intervention can be determined using the purchase data for the number of disposable pulse oximeters, see method of measuring intervention with purchasing data.
Resources
Click here for a fact sheet about the savings that can be achieved when switching to reusable pulse oximeters.
Footnotes
- Dutch Federation of University Medical Centers. (June 2024). National inventory of UMCs medical disposables.
View our other interventions
General resources
Reducing glove use
Nurses use large quantities of non-sterile gloves during patient care. There are three situations where gloves are required: 1) when caring for patients in isolation 2) when there is a risk of contact with mucous membranes or bodily fluids 3) when preparing certain medications. Wearing gloves as a standard practice is not recommended1. Due to the high consumption rates in hospitals, gloves have a considerable environmental impact2.
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.
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.
