Championing for a Linen Committee
You may be familiar with SBAR (Situation, Background, Assessment, Recommendation). It is a communication tool that provides essential, concise information usually between members of a healthcare team. We are using SBAR in this blog to frame the problem of linen loss and to foster a partnership approach for solutions.
- Situation: Linen loss is a problem costing the facility thousands of dollars.
- Background: The definition of linen loss is the amount of linen lost, not used and not returned to the linen plant. There is limited education provided in the facility related to linen management and only partial engagement with clinical staff.
- Assessment: There is a lack of knowledge about linen management. Determining and implementing actions will decrease linen loss costs.
- Recommendation: Hospital leadership needs to form a linen management committee and develop linen champions.
Select Participants
The most successful committee is one where front-line clinical staff are involved. Participants can be nurses, clinical technicians, infection preventionists, and staff from environmental services. Setting up a formal linen champions program will give credibility to the committee and help to recruit volunteers. This can be part of a clinical ladder, shared governance or a six-sigma / master’s degree project. It is also a great way to get night shift employees involved when using virtual meeting options.
The linen champion role is to attend linen committee meetings, be positive supporters of linen management in the facility, spearhead initiatives, challenge colleagues, and report to leadership. You are looking for staff to take ownership to deliver tangible results.
HandCraft representatives can also attend linen committee meetings either in-person or virtually. We can present your linen loss data and analyze the data trends. In addition, we can share our resources such as signage and videos.
We recommend having a project manager / project sponsor who has decision-making authority and attends leadership meetings to report on the linen management ideas discussed in the meetings. The project manager can be from administration in areas such as Support Services, Supply Chain or Operations. Upper management support is paramount to the success of the program and it takes a commitment to be successful.
Establish the Goal
Once you have the members of the linen committee set up, you need to create a purpose, success criteria and deliverables. Here are examples to consider—
- Purpose: The linen champions will bring linen awareness to employees to address the specific issue of linen loss and the cost associated with linen replacement.
- Success criteria: The outcome of the team’s effort will be a decrease in linen loss data determined by clean / soil ratios.
- Deliverables: The team’s output will be monthly just-in-time education and at least two initiatives for linen awareness.
Create Buy-In
The linen committee’s success is based on hearing the clinical perspective of what is happening at the unit level. People embrace change more quickly when they have input. Members must feel they have an active voice to affect change and are adding value. It is important to encourage creativity and accept innovative ideas as well as thank the linen champions and celebrate successes.
With a strong commitment to implement action items, you will see improvements in your linen loss data and subsequent decrease in linen loss costs. It is time to execute the recommendations of the linen loss SBAR – it is time to form a linen management committee and develop linen champions.
Contact HandCraft for more information
If you are looking for the right partner to help prevent linen loss and decrease your linen loss costs, you found us. We have the experience, the industry-backed expertise, the technology and the professionals to help you achieve your goals. Remember to look at our Linen Awareness Program – healthcare linen management strategies that save costs and improve service.
Call us today at (888) 358-8671 or reach us here for more information on our services.
About the Author
Dyan Troxel, MSN, RN
Dyan is a registered nurse with experience in several clinical and non-clinical settings including Surgical ICU, Neonatal ICU, Education, Process Improvement, and Healthcare Leadership.
