by
Sean Ruck, Contributing Editor | March 29, 2012
AORN's 59th Congress officially concludes today. But it's the hope of many involved that an eco-friendly message will be carried home by attendees.
In booths and in conference rooms, a key theme of the show was "eco." Exhibitors showcased technologies and services to decrease health care's environmental impact, while presenters offered advice on how nurses might introduce "greening" programs in their facilities.
Greening tips
One of Tuesday's sessions, "Greening the OR," presented by Cecilia DeLoach Lynn and Julie Moyle, shared some of the findings of Practice Greenhealth, a nonprofit organization dedicated to bringing environmentally sustainable practices to the health care sector.
Some of the best practices discussed during the presentation included:
MW segregation in the OR. Through more thoughtful segregation of medical wastes -- in particular red bag waste -- an 833-bed hospital was able to reduce trash generated by its OR by 18.6 percent in a six-month period, saving more than $15,000. When they increased the waste reduced to 47 percent, savings skyrocketed to $89,000 and reduced trash by nearly 29,000 pounds.
Reusable gowns, textiles and basins in the OR. By disposing of disposables and returning to reusable, the University of Maryland Medical Center experienced an estimated cost-savings of $38,849 in avoided waste disposal costs and prevented 138,748 pounds of trash from entering the waste stream.
Lost and found
That evening, "Lighten Your Carbon Footprint," an event sponsored by Pfielder Enterprises and Stryker, further drove home the message. DeLoach Lynn and Moyle spoke again, joined by Johns Hopkins surgeon Martin Makary and Jodi Sherman, assistant professor of anesthesiology and environmental compliance at Yale University.
Among the research findings presented, one figure raised some eyebrows and caused a murmur among the audience members. In addition to the cost savings realized by decreasing waste disposal fees through the reprocessing of gowns and textiles in the OR, Maryland Medical Center also enjoyed an additional $39,000 in savings because of returned instruments -- instruments accidentally thrown into the textile collection, which in the past would have headed for disposal instead. The presenters said this was not a problem unique to that facility and many in the crowd agreed.
Attendees shared their own experiences with introducing sustainability programs to their facilities and took away new ideas to try out, bolstered by information they can present to administrators showing that going green can translate to saving green in a big way.
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