Vol. XI, No. 6Archive > June, 2010

Ideas That Work

Slipper socks for the homeless

Many patients didn't want to take home the soft slipper socks we gave them to wear during their stay with us, so we'd end up throwing them in the trash. Our staff got together to explore ways to recycle these items. We came up with a great solution when we asked the local homeless shelter if they'd like to distribute the slippers to the folks that come for help. They were thrilled with the idea. We now ask patients to donate their slippers instead of taking them home. We collect the pairs in the PACU and a staff member delivers them to the local shelter, where they're washed and folded for distribution to their clients. We're happy to provide warm slippers to the homeless and at the same time keep our planet a bit greener.

Louise DeChesser, RN, CNOR, MS
Administrator
West Hartford Surgery Center
West Hartford, Conn.
ldechesser@harthosp.org

 
Have an account? Please sign in:
Email Address:
Password:
Keywords:
Louise DeChesser, RN, CNOR, MS; Sheldon S. Sones, RPh, FASCP; Patrick Linton, MD; Bonnie Brady, RN; Debbie Hay, RN, BSN, CASC; Blaney Newton, RN, BS; BS Director; BSN, CASC President Texas Institute; Bonnie; Brady, RN Administrator; CASC President Texas Institute; Capnography When; Center; Consultant Sheldon S. Sones; Couriers; Couriers If; DEA; Dallas-based Green Couriers; Debbie; Drug Records About; Eco-Friendly Couriers If; Eliminate Enzymatics Rather; Enzymatics Rather; Expect; Eye Instruments, Rinse Properly; FASCP Pharmacy Consultant Sheldon S. Sones; Game Here's; Green Couriers; Green E... show all keywords
Louise DeChesser, RN, CNOR, MS; Sheldon S. Sones, RPh, FASCP; Patrick Linton, MD; Bonnie Brady, RN; Debbie Hay, RN, BSN, CASC; Blaney Newton, RN, BS; BS Director; BSN, CASC President Texas Institute; Bonnie; Brady, RN Administrator; CASC President Texas Institute; Capnography When; Center; Consultant Sheldon S. Sones; Couriers; Couriers If; DEA; Dallas-based Green Couriers; Debbie; Drug Records About; Eco-Friendly Couriers If; Eliminate Enzymatics Rather; Enzymatics Rather; Expect; Eye Instruments, Rinse Properly; FASCP Pharmacy Consultant Sheldon S. Sones; Game Here's; Green Couriers; Green Eco-Friendly Couriers If; Guessing Game Here's; Hay, RN, BSN, CASC President Texas Institute; Institute; Instruments, Rinse Properly; Linton, MD Assistant Professor; MD Assistant Professor; Maintaining; Masks; Newton, RN, BS Director; Nurses Surgery Center; PACU; Patrick; Price Guessing Game Here's; Professor; Properly; RN Administrator; RN, BS Director; RN, BSN, CASC President Texas Institute; RPh, FASCP Pharmacy Consultant Sheldon S. Sones; Records About; Rinse Properly; S. Sones; S. Sones, RPh, FASCP Pharmacy Consultant Sheldon S. Sones; Safer; Sones; Sones, RPh, FASCP Pharmacy Consultant Sheldon S. Sones; Specialty; T-port; access; active; air; allowing; anesthesia; angiocath; applies; area; asked; attach; avoid; billing; bit; burrow; business; call; cannulas; capnography; carbon; care; catastrophe; center; cheaper; clean; cleaner; collect; company; comparably; completed; controlled; costing; courier; crevice; current; cut; day; deionized; deliveries; delivers; designed; detergent; directly; disposable; distribute; distribution; donate; doused; downtown; drive; drug; eliminate; emission-free; emissions; end; endoscopy; endotoxin; entirety; entrainment; environment; environmental; enzymatic; evidence; expense; expensive; expired; explore; extension; face; facility; file; firmly; flushing; folded; folks; form; game; gave; good; great; green; guess; happy; helping; helps; hold; hole; home; homeless; hybrid; impact; individually; injection; inserted; instrument; instruments; invite; knowing; leadership; learn; local; maintain; makes; making; manually; mask; member; misfortune; monitored; month's; narcotic/controlled; nursing; office; offices; online; open; operating; ophthalmic; order; ordering; pack; pairs; paperless; patient; patients; physical; piece; planet; port; pre-op/PACU; press; price; procedure; properly; provide; providers; real; receipt; records; recycle; remote; reps; residue; ride; rinsed; risk; room; sampling; save; scrubbing; seal; send; service; set; shelter; shuttles; simpler; sink; slide; slipper; small-bore; socks; soft; softened; solution; staff; stainless; stay; steel; sterilization; storing; surgical; sutures; taking; thrilled; throwing; time; tip; tons; tube; tubing; under-price; vascular; vigorously; wake-up; warm; washed; water; ways; wear; work; worth; years
DID YOU SEE THIS?
Equipment and Instruments

Cases Go Faster and More Safely With This Surgical Platform

http://ad.doubleclick.net/ad/N884.126151.OUTPATIENTSURGERY.NE/B7375920;sz=300x250;ord=[timestamp]?

Other Articles That May Interest You

Editor's Page - What's Wrong With This Picture?

We need a photo editor. You need to practice safer surgery.

How Well Do You Manage Post-Op Pain?

Letting pain get the upper hand is a sure way to sink your patient satisfaction scores.

2012 OR Excellence Awards - Infection Prevention

Our 4th annual celebration of surgery's top performers, including 17 packed pages of the year's best ideas for clinical and business successes.