F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 6 • O U T PA T I E N TS U R G E R Y. N E T • 2 3
• Training exercises. Sometimes
supplies fall on the floor, or some-
one opens the wrong item, or a
surgery that's set up is canceled at
the last minute. Once the sterility
of supplies is compromised, you
have to toss them: What a waste of
supplies, and your supply budget,
right? Not if you save these sup-
plies for use in training exercises,
in-services or drills. As an additional bonus, you won't have to open and waste more sterile
packages for those education efforts.
• Towels for turnovers. The blue towels
that surgeons use to dry off after scrub-
bing in come in sterile packs of 5, but
when only 1 gets used during a case, the
rest are discarded as contaminated. If
they're not all used before the patient is
rolled into the room, why not save them
for cleaning your ORs and equipment? It'll
save you the expense of buying similar
supplies for surface disinfection and termi-
nal cleaning.
Share your great idea for saving time or money at ideas@outpatientsurgery.net.