[Durgical](https://durgical.com/en/) › [DurgiPedia](https://durgical.com/en/durgipedia/) › [Nursing](https://durgical.com/en/nursing/) › [Care management](https://durgical.com/en/nursing/areas/management/) › Managing supplies, equipment and technology on a nursing unit # Managing supplies, equipment and technology on a nursing unit - Safe practice Good resource management means the right supplies and working equipment are ready when needed, nothing is wasted and faulty devices are taken out and reported. Updated Nov 12, 2026 ## Key points - Check critical equipment at the start of the shift (suction, oxygen, monitors, emergency trolley) according to the unit's checklist. - Bring only what is needed into the room; an opened, unused item is waste. - A faulty device is taken out of use, labelled and reported; it is never used "just this once". - Preventive maintenance and inspections are scheduled; corrective maintenance follows a reported failure. - Adverse events and incidents involving medical devices are reported to the institution's technovigilance lead, who reports to INVIMA. ## What it is Supplies, equipment and technology are part of safe care: a missing item delays treatment, and a faulty device can harm a patient. Open RN describes resource stewardship as using the right resources to plan and sustain evidence-based care, and gives practical ways to cut waste: keep supplies near where they are used, bring into the room only what is needed and avoid opening kits that will not be used. WHO describes a medical equipment programme built on an inventory, regular inspections, preventive maintenance to extend equipment life and corrective maintenance when something fails. In Colombia, problems with medical devices are reported to the Programa Nacional de Tecnovigilancia run by INVIMA, through the institution's programme lead. The nurse's job is to check, use, clean, store and report, following the institution's procedures. ## What it requires - An up-to-date inventory of equipment and its location on the unit. - A known route to request supplies and to report equipment failures (for example, biomedical engineering). - Training on each device before using it on a patient. - Cleaning and storage rules for each item, following infection-control procedures. - Knowing who leads the institution's technovigilance programme. ## Components - Supplies: ordering, storage, rotation, use and recording of what is used. - Equipment: inventory, inspection, preventive and corrective maintenance, cleaning. - Technology: devices and information systems, training and safe use. - Surveillance: reporting device problems to technovigilance. ## How it is applied (and why) - Check the unit's critical equipment at the start of the shift using the checklist: a failure found early is not found during an emergency. - Before use, check the device works, is clean and has a current maintenance label if the unit uses one: this prevents harm from faulty equipment. - Check that sterile packages are intact and in date before opening: a damaged package is not sterile. - Take into the room only the supplies you need and keep stock close to where it is used: this saves time and cuts waste. - If a device fails, stop using it, make the patient safe, label it as faulty and take it out of service: no one else will use it by mistake. - Report the failure to the maintenance service and, if it harmed or could have harmed someone, to the technovigilance lead: reports drive corrective action. - Clean, recharge and store equipment as the procedure says after each use: the next patient finds it ready and safe. - Record supplies used and report shortages early: the unit can reorder before stock runs out. ## In nursing practice - Nursing time is a resource too: clustering care and clear communication avoid duplicated work. - Avoiding prepackaged kits and admission bags that are not needed is a simple way to reduce waste. - About eight in ten medical devices sold in Colombia are imported, and INVIMA also tracks recalls and safety alerts for them. - Using a device the nurse has not been trained on is a safety risk: ask for training first. ## Common mistakes - Opening a full kit for one item. - Leaving a faulty device on the unit without a label. - Skipping the start-of-shift equipment check because "it worked yesterday". - Not reporting a near miss with a device because nobody was harmed. - Storing clean and dirty equipment together. ## Test yourself Think of the answer, then tap the question to see it. ## What should a nurse do with an infusion device that keeps alarming without reason? Stop using it, make the patient safe with another device, label it as faulty, take it out of service and report it to maintenance and, if needed, to the technovigilance lead. ## What is the purpose of preventive maintenance? To extend the life of equipment and reduce failures, through scheduled checks and servicing instead of waiting for a breakdown. ## What are two simple ways nurses reduce supply waste? Bring into the room only what is needed and avoid opening kits or admission bags that will not be used; keeping supplies close to where they are used also helps. [Add to my cards (3)](https://durgical.app/estudiar/?add=/en/nursing/managing-supplies-equipment-and-technology-on-a-nursing-unit/) ## Connections ## Related 4 - [Managing nursing care: planning, organising, directing and controlling a unit](https://durgical.com/en/nursing/managing-nursing-care-planning-organising-directing-and-controlling-a-unit/) - [Pharmacovigilance and technovigilance: what nurses report](https://durgical.com/en/nursing/pharmacovigilance-and-technovigilance-what-nurses-report/) - [The crash cart: checks and organisation](https://durgical.com/en/nursing/the-crash-cart-checks-and-organisation/) - [Cleaning, disinfection and sterilization of equipment](https://durgical.com/en/nursing/cleaning-disinfection-and-sterilization-of-equipment/) [← All of nursing](https://durgical.com/en/nursing/) Educational content for students; it does not replace your institution's protocols, supervised clinical training or a prescriber's order. Dose-calculation examples use made-up numbers: they are educational, not a clinical order. Sources: [Nursing Management and Professional Concepts, 8.5 Budgets and Staffing](https://med.libretexts.org/Bookshelves/Nursing/Nursing_Management_and_Professional_Concepts_1e_(OpenRN)/08%3A_Health_Care_Economics/8.05%3A_Budgets_and_Staffing) (Open RN, Wisconsin Technical College System (CC BY 4.0), LibreTexts edition, 2022); [Medical equipment maintenance programme overview (WHO Medical device technical series)](https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789241501538) (World Health Organization (WHO), 2011); [Introduction to medical equipment inventory management (WHO Medical device technical series)](https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789241501392) (World Health Organization (WHO), 2011); [Programa Nacional de Tecnovigilancia](https://www.invima.gov.co/tecnovigilancia) (Instituto Nacional de Vigilancia de Medicamentos y Alimentos (INVIMA), Colombia, 2026). ## **Spotted a mistake?** We are always improving for the community. Tell us what is wrong and our team will review it. Report a mistake Representative model, for educational purposes only. --- Source: https://durgical.com/en/nursing/managing-supplies-equipment-and-technology-on-a-nursing-unit/ License: CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Cite as: DurgiPedia (durgical.com), https://durgical.com/en/nursing/managing-supplies-equipment-and-technology-on-a-nursing-unit/