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Clinical Waste Audit

Clinical Waste Audit.

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Clinical Waste Audit

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  1. Clinical Waste Audit “Once upon a time” the common practice in our Intensive Care Unit was to have two types of waste receptacles by each bed: One for general (mostly paper) waste and one for clinical or contaminated waste. (Cytotoxic & radioactive waste are rare occurrences in our unit and are dealt with according to their respective protocols) A random audit revealed startling evidence: careless choices costing the unit BIG $$$$! Paper waste, IV bags still filled with fluid, IV lines & burettes, full urine bags, plastic suction & oxygen tubing, empty syringes, & wrappers for various consumables were just some of the items disposed of in the clinical waste bags. To encourage staff to consider what was thrown out into which receptacle a change in practice was trialled: the larger “normal” sized (101 x 76cm) Yellow contaminated waste bag was removed from all 12 rooms. A smaller, kitchen tidy size (55 x 45cm) was to be used as deemed necessary: ie if the RN was to attended a dressing, a small yellow bag would be collected as part of the preparation. Initial opposition was overcome and the changes have been very well accepted With the introduction of Waste Management policies recycling of office whites was introduced (blue bins) as was recycling of cardboard/plastic bottles/aluminum cans/newspaper (green bins). Recycled waste cost nothing to remove As the fees for waste disposal has increased in recent years the cost saving to the unit remains substantial. The following poster was developed for feedback and reminder that we all can contribute in the smallest way by disposing of general waste correctly

  2. Clinical Waste Audit AUTHORED BY:Deb Poynting CNC Intensive Care – Gosford ICU, NSCCH Ever wondered about THOSE yellow clinical waste bags and how much money we have saved? Audit Result of one bag of Clinical Waste It contained 5.2 kg of mixed waste charged at $0.89/kg=$4.62 CLINICAL WASTE 3.8 kg 1.4 kg Results 3.8kg of non-clinical waste 1.4kg of clinical waste * Instead of $0.72 the non-clinical waste was removed at a cost of $3.38 * This averages at $2.66 per bag extra ICU is paying for removal of non-clinical waste. * Each room has a bag change once per shift. * For 10 rooms the extra cost is approximately $80/day * Over a 12 month period the cost to remove non-clinical waste in clinical waste bags is $29105 * Following this audit the large yellow bags were removed from each room. Smaller bags are obtained from the store room when required NON-CLINICAL WASTE A typical yellow bag was collected from one of the rooms in ICU and separated into clinical and non-clinical waste. Waste is removed from ward areas 2-3 times daily. It is weighed and disposed of accordingly. The cost of removal and disposal is charged per kilogram of waste. Non-Clinical = $0.19/kg Clinical = $0 .89/kg By simply removing the large clinical waste bags from the rooms and using the smaller yellow bags as needed we have saved ourselves (& the environment) nearly $29105 / year RECYCLE GOODS COST NOTHING TO REMOVE

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