Background
Color Coded Bin System
It has been proven that lack of organization and efficiency of the nurse’s supply closet has a drastic effect on nurses and their performance in the hospital. In this environment, a lack of structure exists when it comes to items nurses use on a daily basis. Nurses spend approximately 6.6% (or 36.3 minutes) of their time on “hunting and gathering” behaviors involving equipment when in a stock room. Not only do these actions create non-value added work for the nurses, but they also create stress. All these factors decrease the time in which a nurse could be caring for a patient and decrease value added work to the hospital.
Nurse Inventory Tracker
Allows nurses to link specific medical items to the specific patient using these items. Some hospitals charge a standard daily fee to cover the cost of the materials that each patient uses. With this app hospitals would be able to charge the items to each specific patient. The phone app would allow a nurse’s phone to scan the item from any location instead of having to be near a computer either in the supply closet to the nurse’s station. In addition, this will help the hospitals have a better handle of inventory and be able to restock efficiently.