Sustainability interventions in nursing wards
Nursing interventions
Using a single IV system across all departments
When hospital departments use different IV systems, IV lines may need to be replaced when a patient is transferred because the systems are not compatible. This leads to unnecessary waste, takes additional time, and can cause discomfort for the patient. A single, standardised IV system prevents this.
Intervention
Use the same IV system across all departments so that IV lines do not need to be replaced during patient transfers.
Environmental impact
Measured in CO₂ emissions, based on the reduction in the number of IV lines used.
Implementation approach
- Refer to the approach for implementing a different method in nursing practice.
- To gain insight into the current situation when developing the implementation plan, it can be helpful to determine how often IV lines are replaced. This can be done using internal patient transfer data between nursing units that use different IV systems. The Integrated Capacity Management department can assist with this. Keep in mind that not every patient has an IV line at the time of transfer.
- Consult the step-by-step guide for more information on setting goals, implementation, and evaluation.
When is it implemented?
This intervention is considered implemented when IV line exchanges are prevented by using the same IV lines on the nursing units in the hospital, and the difference in CO₂-equivalent (kg) has been calculated.
How this is measured?
The environmental impact of this intervention can be determined using purchasing data for the number of IV lines, see the procedure for measuring an intervention using purchasing data.
Note: Other interventions may influence the results of this intervention. If the "Replacing IV lines every seven days" intervention is implemented at the same time, it may affect the purchasing data for IV lines. Implement the "IV line replaced every seven days" intervention at a different time to measure the effect accurately.
Resources
Click here for an example where Radboudumc aligned their IV systems between the operating room and nursing units, resulting in 10,000 fewer IV systems being disposed of.
Resultaten
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View our other interventions
Monitoring parameters
Reducing blood testing
Blood tests are an essential part of patient care, but they also generate waste and take time. Nurses play an important role at the start of this process and, together with physicians and nurse specialists, can explore ways to reduce the number of blood tests performed.
Nursing interventions
Using tap water for wound care
For acute wounds (traumatic or surgical), irrigation using a female catheter filled with lukewarm tap water is recommended instead of NaCl 0.9%. This increases patient comfort and reduces material use, as a new sterile NaCl 0.9% bottle or sterile collection tray is no longer needed every 24 hours.
