Category
Sustainability/Environmental
Submitted By
Emily Bishop, emily.d.bishop@cuanschutz.edu, Healthcare Simulation Assistant/ HealthcareTechnician II, Experiential Learning Team/Healthcare Simulation
Project Team
Emily Bishop, emily.d.bishop@cuanschutz.edu, Healthcare Simulation Assistant/ HealthcareTechnician II
Emma McClain, emma.mcclain@cuanschutz.edu, Healthcare Simulation Assistant/ Healthcare Technician II
Project Description
This new sustainability initiative includes the recycling, repackaging, and repurposing of all eligible (plastic) materials to avoid excessive medical waste in simulated scenarios, task training, and standardized testing. Considering nursing students are using said materials on a manikin and not a human, they are not considered biohazardous after one use and should not be treated as such; this includes IV tubing, foley catheters, syringes, and etc. The initiative also implements other standards of best practice such as using silica and alcohol to avoid mold growth when storing/refilling vials and IV fluids. Staff and student workers are oriented to recycling protocols with how-to videos filmed by this submitter.
Project Efficiency
One of the most creative innovations that has come from this initiative was the repurposing of over 30 sterile foley catheter bags with tubing that would have otherwise been thrown in the trash after OSCE testing; instead, the foleys were "scrapped for parts" and turned into simulated bedside call lights (see photo).
Project Inspiration
The inspiration for the Sustainability in Simulation Initiative was simply noting the massive quantities of plastic materials that were being thrown into the trash during simulation and OSCE testing. Now, the students are instructed to throw all plastic materials into a recycling bin for simulationists to sort through and repackage because it is more ethically, environmentally, and fiscally responsible.
What Makes You Happiest about this Project?
This initiative makes me happy because it is extremely rewarding to save hundreds of pounds of plastic from being tossed into a landfill, and in turn, also decreases the University's environmental footprint and demand for more plastic materials to be purchased unnecessarily.
