Reducing linen usage at the Methodist Hospitals: changing from flat to fitted sheets benefits patients and bottom line.

PROJECT

Reducing waste associated with unnecessary linen use. Principals: Patient care directors from two hospital campuses, manager of the laundry department, and director of environmental services. Process Improvement Method: An organizational change model being applied throughout Methodist Hospitals, based on the work of Dr. Gerard Egan at Loyola University in Chicago. Timeline: Begun: January 1991. RESULTS reported here: August 1991-August 1992. Key Findings or Improvements: The hospital's routine bed-making policies, which called for changing sheets, mattress pads, and bedspreads daily, were wasteful and unnecessary. Patients disliked flat sheets that bunched up, and nurses spent valuable time having to constantly smooth the sheets. Product innovations made fitted sheets, previously rejected, a cost effective alternative.

RESULTS

By switching to an "as needed" linen change policy, the Laundry Department received 1,296 fewer pounds of laundry per day and more than 473,000 fewer pounds per year, despite stable occupancy. The resulting cost savings were invested in the improved product (fitted sheets) and a new delivery system (sealed linen packs). Nurses report increased patient comfort from new sheets and reduced nursing time to straighten bunched sheets.