School of Nursing Reuses Simulation Equipment, Saves Thousands of Dollars
With the popularity of nursing on the rise, Assistant Nursing Professor Dr. Beth Hallmark said her interest in Belmont’s sustainability efforts began when she started to notice the increase of nursing students and the sheer volume of supplies needed.Simply recycling the equipment used by students wouldn’t have been adequate, since a large part of the lab is learning sterile techniques when opening equipment. To reproduce this experience for each student but cut down on cost, Hallmark decided to start the School of Nursing’s (SON) reuse program. Since simulations utilize state of the art mannequins and no contamination of supplies occurs, the reuse of simulation equipment is sanitary and safe.
Now, a number of student workers are trained to clean equipment once it has been used in a simulation. Using a detailed guide, workers re-package tools so they look the same for the next student who will open them. Hallmark takes the SON’s program one step further by personally traveling to area hospitals and healthcare organizations to collect unused and expired supplies that would have been thrown away. Since the simulations work only on mannequins, expired equipment can provide training for nursing students. The equipment that the SON cannot use or does not need is donated to a local nonprofit, ProjectCure.
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School of Nursing Reuses Simulation Equipment, Saves Thousands of Dollars