CCU Eco-reps Lise Bauman and Patty Potero recently collaborated with the Nursing Stewardship Council’s Linen Conservation Committee and the Environmental Services linen department to develop a pilot program aimed at reducing unnecessary linen use. After tracking linen use closely for two weeks, the CCU created and applied simple guidelines for linen use– like limiting the use of pink underpads to as-needed only. Results of the program show that by implementing the guidelines, linen use dropped by 643 lb – that’s 18 percent! – in just two weeks!
The Linen Conservation Committee plans to initiate a hospital-wide roll-out of the guidelines in the near future.
