Three Reasons To Engage Clinicians In Waste Prevention Planning

Clinicians are materials use experts.

Each clinical task is a skilled function involving technical mastery, knowledge, and muscle memory of clinical tools and supplies. Waste generation is the final step of each clinical task. Clinicians are the experts we must engage to design better alternatives to landfill.

Clinicians are quality, safety, and efficiency experts.

Any waste prevention initiative can be summarized as ‘taking better care of our things’. To keep any item out of the hospital waste bin, you need a collection plan that meets safety standards, that maintains the quality of collected materials, and that does so in a time- and cost-efficient manner. These are the same constraints that guide clinical protocol. Engaging front-line staff is key to a clinical waste reduction program built for continuity.

Clinicians are systems thinkers.

The biggest barrier to implementing a waste reduction program in the hospital is that change is hard in the healthcare setting. Furthermore, to create meaningful improvements, we must drive systemic changes throughout the industry. This is the number one reason to involve clinicians in waste reduction program planning. Clinicians are by definition holistic change agents, expert in driving positive change within complex systems. To improve the system, let’s activate the army of systems thinkers.

Imagine the last patient care experience that you observed. Now imagine that experience generating zero waste to landfill. Think about the tools, supplies, and collection systems that will support such a system. Clinicians are key to designing the solutions that take us there.