The cost of medical supply waste: peripheral venipuncture and bed baths

Abstract

Objective: To measure the costs of medical supply waste in two nursing procedures; to define waste into avoidable and unavoidable; to classify these materials according to the ABC classification and estimate the annual cost of these types of medical supply waste. Methods: This was a quantitative, exploratory-descriptive single case study. Data were collected between March 2016 and February 2017 in two units of a university hospital in the city of São Paulo, Brazil. The following nursing procedures composed the sample: peripheral venipuncture and bed baths. Medical supply waste was calculated as the sum of the cost of each item of wasted materials. The data were analyzed descriptively in terms of absolute and relative frequencies, average, and standard deviation. Result: The total of medical supply waste of peripheral venipuncture was R$ 27.20 (US$ 7.31) of which R$ 3.50 (US$ 0.94) were “avoidable”, R$ 23.70 (US$ 6.37), “unavoidable”. The total volume of waste for bed baths was R$ 214,63 (US$ 57.73), of which R$ 149.59 (US$ 40.24) were “avoidable” and R$ 65.04 (US$ 17.49) “unavoidable”. More than 70% of the wasted supplies were class A materials in both procedures. The projected annual cost of medical supply waste was R$ 83,858.53 (US$ 22,557.94). Conclusion: Medical supply waste presented a distinct behavior in the observed procedures, which points to the need for it to be identified, analyzed and calculated for nurses to make decisions efficiently.