Resolving logistics issues takes away from the time nurses could be providing care, new survey indicates.
Healthcare logistics affects patient care more than most would think, a new survey from American Nurse Journal has found.
Healthcare logistics is the movement of critical materials such as lab specimens, supplies, pharmaceuticals, and surgical equipment. Some 87% of the 353 survey respondents said the delivery, or failure of these materials to be delivered, affects their work weekly. Another 71% said it affects their work monthly.
Consequently, 32% of nurses have a stash of supplies in anticipation of late deliveries and 27% claimed they’d transported something to another facility themselves to avoid a potential delivery issue, according to the survey.
Other data revealed by the survey indicated that 65% of nurses said they had to collect another test sample from a patient because of an issue or delayed delivery, and 56% had to reschedule a patient’s procedure.
The survey’s results show a significant financial impact on care delivery, particularly the cost in delaying a procedure. The results also indicate that logistics errors take time away from nurses where they should be delivering care to resolve issues beyond their control.
