Policy change The Legacy Hopewell House has gone to a new system of disposing pharmaceuticals. The old system allowed for medication to be disposed of in the trash, sink, toilet, or sharps container. The new system, called the Cactus Smart Sink (CSS), allows for disposal in an environmentally safe and non-retrievable way. CSS utilizes a dual canister system that allows for disposal of both solid and liquid pharmaceuticals. Once the drug is placed into the canister it is rendered unretrievable by chemicals within the canister that turn the raw waste into a gel. Once in the gel format, it can be sent to be incinerated. Other security features that make retrieving the wasted drugs difficult include the intricate canister design, alarms that alert
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Blias and Hayes (2011) describes a change theory by Lewin that is very fitting for the health care system and for this specific change. The Lewin theory has three phases: unfreeze, moving and refreeze. In the unfreeze phase, a need for change arises either from a problematic situation or a better way of doing something is presented. Here, both occurred. Drugs were being wasted down a sink or toilet making an environmental impact and said drugs were made easily accessible to employees after ‘wasting’ had occurred, tempting abnegation. Gdula and Barczak (2014) point out why environmental impact of pharmaceuticals is of great concern, “Pharmaceuticals and biomolecules, such as drugs, have a huge influence on living organisms. [T]hey can cause damage in some organs or tissues, e.g. some proteins can facilitate adoption of fibrous proteins causing adverse biological consequences, such as increased blood clotting or heart disease.” One can see why keeping pharmaceuticals out of our direct environment is vital in protecting our community and promoting the communities health. The need in this situation was discovering a new way to control pharmaceutical waste management, protect the environmental waste, and protect employees from potential substance …show more content…
This is one of the core pieces of the RNs profession and includes strategies such as knowledge of environmental health concepts, having the right to work in an environment that is safe and health, using the best evidence available in order to promote environmental health, and advocating for and implementing environmental health principles in nursing practice. In another study, Shaner-McRae, McRae, and Jas (2007) note, “It is only when systems break down that an environmental problem becomes obvious. It is only when waste containers overflow that one thinks about them. When bags of waste disappear without clinicians being aware of these bags, they do not think about where that waste goes. Yet, wastes from health care alone account for one percent of all solid wastes produced in the United States.” In order to sustain the improvement made with the CCS, it is vital that all employees engage in noticing how their internal environment affects the world environment, utilizing evidence based practice to advance any environmental concerns, and promoting a safe and blame free environment that will allow for colleagues to speak up regarding
Blias and Hayes (2011) describes a change theory by Lewin that is very fitting for the health care system and for this specific change. The Lewin theory has three phases: unfreeze, moving and refreeze. In the unfreeze phase, a need for change arises either from a problematic situation or a better way of doing something is presented. Here, both occurred. Drugs were being wasted down a sink or toilet making an environmental impact and said drugs were made easily accessible to employees after ‘wasting’ had occurred, tempting abnegation. Gdula and Barczak (2014) point out why environmental impact of pharmaceuticals is of great concern, “Pharmaceuticals and biomolecules, such as drugs, have a huge influence on living organisms. [T]hey can cause damage in some organs or tissues, e.g. some proteins can facilitate adoption of fibrous proteins causing adverse biological consequences, such as increased blood clotting or heart disease.” One can see why keeping pharmaceuticals out of our direct environment is vital in protecting our community and promoting the communities health. The need in this situation was discovering a new way to control pharmaceutical waste management, protect the environmental waste, and protect employees from potential substance …show more content…
This is one of the core pieces of the RNs profession and includes strategies such as knowledge of environmental health concepts, having the right to work in an environment that is safe and health, using the best evidence available in order to promote environmental health, and advocating for and implementing environmental health principles in nursing practice. In another study, Shaner-McRae, McRae, and Jas (2007) note, “It is only when systems break down that an environmental problem becomes obvious. It is only when waste containers overflow that one thinks about them. When bags of waste disappear without clinicians being aware of these bags, they do not think about where that waste goes. Yet, wastes from health care alone account for one percent of all solid wastes produced in the United States.” In order to sustain the improvement made with the CCS, it is vital that all employees engage in noticing how their internal environment affects the world environment, utilizing evidence based practice to advance any environmental concerns, and promoting a safe and blame free environment that will allow for colleagues to speak up regarding