Authors: (including presenting author): :
Chan WH, Lung SK, Leung HC, Sham KN, Lam WS, Lau WY, Wong SB
Affiliation: :
3E ward, Haven of Hope Hospital
Introduction: :
Sufficient supply of materials and equipment are essential for nurse to deliver health services. Shortage of items may affect the efficiency of treatment and care to patient. Many new graduate nurses have spent a lot of time in retrieving stock items, leading to increasing workplace stress. Inventory management system with stock location information enables new colleagues to retrieve items quickly. Furthermore, existing nurses could also search for seldom used items easily. Instead of ad hoc stock take, regular monitoring enables us to maintain a good inventory record, avoid shortage and minimize obsolescence. Reviewing on current storeroom was performed by inviting colleagues to fill in questionnaires, only 57% of staff showed satisfaction. To build up a good inventory management system, “Smart Store” is created to maintain accurate inventory records. It is a software program with multiple fields, including item name, location, expiry date and base-line stock amount.
Objectives: :
With the implementation of “Smart Store”, the following objectives would be achieved: -Easy and fast searching stock items, save time to provide nursing care and treatment to patient; -Avoid shortage of stock; and -Make sure that supplies are in good conditions by monitoring expiring dates;
Methodology: :
A workgroup (2 senior nurses who completed OSH training and 2 junior nurses) was formed to improve the existing inventory management system. After reviewing the existing system, a software program in computer and iPad with product information and location information was created. Existing stock information was inputted into the program. Next, each shelf and layer of the storeroom was labelled by letters and numbers with item photos. Then, a map with “Shelf” was created and posted at an eye-catching place in storeroom. After final check of the program, a user guide of “Smart Store” was prepared. A briefing session was held to demonstrate the use of “Smart Store” before implementation.
Result & Outcome: :
Conducting pilot from May 2019 to November 2019, 25 nurses were invited to fill in the evaluation forms to evaluate the effectiveness of “Smart Store” in December 2019. Result showed that 91% of the nurses satisfied with the storeroom after using "Smart Store”. The average item searching time was diminished from 2 minutes 40 seconds to 45 seconds with the implementation of “Smart Store”. User can search items quickly by just key in keywords in “Smart Store”. This program has enhanced the efficiency of item retrieval.
