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अमूर्त

Disposable versus Reusable Blood Pressure Cuffs: A Nursing Led Initiative

Sheila Ray Montgomery

Background: In 2009, a large academic hospital spent $310,000 on disposable blood pressure cuffs. Identifying this cost issue as a problem, the Director of Value Analysis submitted the problem to a nurse led group, the Nurse Practice Congress (NPC), for resolution. Within the NPC, nurses voted to accept the opportunity and commit to explore evidence based avenues to reduce costs.

Methods: Plan, do, check, and act were utilized as the primary method for this value analysis project. A nursing lead interdisciplinary team initiated a quality improvement project answering the question, “Can the hospital incorporate re-usable blood pressure cuffs in the place of disposable cuffs and decrease overall costs?” A literature search was conducted regarding the the use of disposable equipment into the project. The amount of money spent on reusable and disposable blood pressure cuffs was used to gauge the success of the project. The amount spent was collected from 2009-2013 and analyzed to see if there had been a successful practice change within the hospital system.

Main findings: A literature search discovered with proper cleaning reusable equipment was appropriate for use in non-acute areas. The team recommended disposable blood pressure cuffs remain in use within intensive care units or areas where immune compromised patients were frequently admitted. Disposable blood pressure cuffs remained accessible to all nursing staff to be used for isolation patients or per nursing judgment. In 2009, the hospital spent $309,835 on disposable blood pressure cuffs. The following years were as follows: 2010: $292,959, 2011: $193,021, 2012: $251,647, and 2013: $222,447. This is a cost savings over four years of $277,266.

Conclusion: The result of this nursing led initiative was extremely lucrative for the hospital and within guidelines of evidence based practice. The collaborative team that discussed the issue and examined the literature, and reached a collaborative solution included main stakeholders throughout the hospital.