Most work environments can quickly become disorganized and messy, especially if a shift becomes especially hectic. There isn’t a lot of time to stop and clean up, and organization has to wait until later. Sometimes, that organization just never happens because it soon becomes an overwhelming task. This can be especially true in hospitals, and a hospital cart can be a solution to this problem.
Rolling medical supply carts allow supplies to be organized into drawers and moved from one location to the next. Every drawer has space for supplies where nurses and doctors can keep things organized and stocked. At the end of a shift, it’s easy to roll the medical cart to the supply room to restock it. A workstation on wheels can be the answer to cluttered desks and nurses’ stations and cut down on the time providers spend searching for supplies when delivering direct patient care.
Maneuverability
Not only are hospital carts extremely mobile, but they’re also very maneuverable. With specially-designed durable spinning wheels, most hospital carts are designed to turn every corner and roll over any surface with ease, including carpet. When you’re running through a crowded department, you can easily move around people with your cart and be assured your cart won’t jam up on changing floor surfaces.
This maneuverability also allows the carts to be rolled into tight spaces, including in patient rooms, crowded emergency departments, and nurses’ stations. The ease of bringing your cart anywhere reduces the buildup of clutter from grabbing supplies on-the-go with no place to put them. Being able to store carts in tight spaces also reduces corridor clutter, which can delay or slow down life-saving measures for patients in crisis, or create a fire hazard.
Versatility
A medical workstation on wheels can be outfitted with drawers, cassette drawers, a trash receptacle, sharps containers, and scanners or printers. These workstations can be customized to what will work best for your hospital environment.
Some workstations even have vital signs devices for expedient care, minimizing the need to retrieve this equipment from elsewhere and adding to the clutter of a patient’s room. Mobile medical carts can be used for medications, surgery, electronic health records (EHRs), point-of-care systems, anesthesia carts, and general supply carts.
Power anywhere
Most medical workstations feature a hot-swap battery system. These batteries are designed to last 6-10 hours, depending on use. Rather than having to find a place to park and charge them, increasing clutter and the need to transport supplies back and forth, these batteries can be quickly swapped out with a fully charged new battery. This means your hospital cart will last for your entire shift without you having to worry about where to plug your cart in.
Reduce errors and distractions
According to this book, many distractions can lead to nursing errors that can be dangerous for patients. Clutter is one such distraction, which can slow down care or provide unnecessary obstacles in a crisis situation.
Reducing clutter in the workplace is not only beneficial for nursing staff, it’s also essential to providing efficient and safe care to patients. Safety should be paramount in any hospital and keeping clutter to a minimum is part of that safety protocol.
Patient records
Medical workstations on wheels also offer a more streamlined way to access patient records and health information. While most hospitals have switched to computerized health records, some still function by using paper charts while in the room with patients, expecting that the data will be entered later on. These charts add to the clutter found at nurses’ stations and around stationary computer areas.
This methodology is not only inefficient; it is also financially detrimental. Data entry errors account for an estimated $17 to 29 billion dollars annually. These costs are associated with the original errors, the care spent to correct them, and medical malpractice lawsuits. Mobile point-of-care systems reduce these costly errors and improve patient safety.
