Proposal Report (Student Example by Meredith Blair)

Proposal Report:

Purchasing Scrub Tops for Hospital

Memorandum

TO: Mary Johnson, Uniform Supervisor of Hospital

FROM: Meredith Blair, Registered Nurse at Hospital

DATE: May 22, 2016

SUBJECT: Proposal to Purchase New Scrub Tops for Hospital

Mrs. Johnson,

I am writing in response to the RFP you published in the April issue of the Hospital newsletter. Your request was for hospital employees to research scrub tops of their liking, and present a proposal to you for purchasing new scrub tops, because the current garments are degrading in quality. The best proposal, chosen by you, will approve the employee to carry on the proposed project, and implement the new scrubs into the hospitals Uniform Department.

As a RN who wears scrubs on every shift, I take this request seriously and hope to gain your approval to purchase the scrub uniforms I have researched. Thank you for your consideration and giving me the opportunity to express my input. If you have any questions, or would like to further this discussion, please contact me at: (541) 555-1234.

Meredith Blair, RN

Introduction

The current scrub tops in our hospital are just over six years old. They have been worn thousands of times, due to our staffing of over four hundred employees. After the amount of years of being worn and washed, the uniforms are showing signs of deterioration.

After viewing the RFP sent out by Mrs. Johnson, to find scrub tops that interest the hospital employees, and present a proposal to her and her colleagues for purchasing the researched tops, I recognized the importance of this request, and delved into my research immediately.

Being a RN at the hospital for over ten years now, I take great pride in my work and am eager to present my findings to my supervisors. This is a wonderful opportunity to really convey the importance of a comfortable, sturdy, and affordable uniform, that will last for years to come.

The following proposal will cover:

  • Problems with the current scrub tops.
  • Benefits of new scrub tops.
  • Method of research with recent feasibility report.
  • Description of new scrub tops.
  • Schedule.
  • Qualifications.
  • Costs.
  • Conclusion.

Problems with the Current Scrub Tops

With the extensive use of the current scrub tops at our hospital, the majority of them are degrading in quality. Many of the scrub tops have faded spots, and some even have holes forming. Others have lost the ability to keep out fluids, retained stains, and the pocket stitching has come undone.

Maintaining the worn-out tops have gotten to the point where we, hospital employees, are having to filter through garment after garment to find a presentable, yet usable scrub top, to finish out our shifts. This also presents more cost to launder the scrubs. After having to sort through the scrubs to find the most viable top for ones shift, by law, the touched scrubs need to be washed, even if they were not used.

It is not only unappealing to look at the deteriorating tops, but it is also a patient safety concern as well. Scrub tops are to not wick in moisture, but to resist liquids and be durable enough to be sanitized after each use. Some of the current scrub tops have retained stains from patients’ fluids or spilled medication. Patient safety is the number one priority in the hospital, and a good way to carry on safe practices is to purchase new scrub tops to replace the current degraded garments.

Benefits of New Scrub Tops

By purchasing new scrub tops to replace the existing ones, the hospital will experience the following benefits:

  • Establish more confidence: Having new and functional scrub tops will not only make the hospital employee feel more adequate in performing their job, the patients will be confident in the staff as well. Having crisp, durable, and presentable scrub tops will tell the patients that the hospital employees are confident in their job, and that they are there to provide the up most professional care.
  • Lower the laundry amount and its cost: Any garment that has been touched or has fallen on the ground, needs to be laundered immediately. Having new scrub tops that are easily accessible, by not having to sort through them and contaminating the rest, will reduce the laundry in the hospital considerably, and lower the labor cost to carry out those maintenance duties as well.
  • Increase worker performance: With the current employees having to sort through the existing scrub tops, this action takes up too much time, which takes away from patient care. When a scrub top is soiled, a health worker is to change their uniform quickly. By replacing the old scrubs with the new, the worker is able to discard and exchange the top in a timely manner, and get back to what is most important; patient care.

Method of Research 

Previous to this proposal, I compiled information about new scrub tops for the hospital, and presented a feasibility report to the hospital administrators and budget office. My supervisors urged the importance of cost, durability, and functionality being the criteria to base my comparisons around.

I chose three scrub tops for comparison by:

  1. Keeping the administrators’ criteria in high regards.
  2. Researching scrub top costs and their reviews on Amazon.com.
  3. Inquiring with other medical professionals what scrub top they preferred.

After careful examination and comparison of the three pending options, I narrowed down my choices in my feasibility report to the Cherokee Workware Unisex V-Neck scrub top.

I also took into consideration the laundry and maintenance of the medical uniforms. I requested the total number of current scrub tops the hospital has on hand. With over four hundred medical employees working at once, the hospital requires that every worker have access to two scrub tops per shift. There are just over 1,000 scrub tops currently in rotation, and the majority of them are damaged considerably.

Description of the New Scrub Tops

The Cherokee Workware Unisex V-Neck scrub top has a great price of $16.98 each, a high polyester content for rugged durability, and includes accessible pockets for small medical instruments. It also comes in a wide variety of colors to honor the existing scrub tops, which is helpful, because the hospital has three different colors defining what floor a medical employee is working on.

The three scrub tops chosen: Grape for the first floor, Hunter Green for the second floor, and Galaxy Blue for the third floor. Image: CherokeeUniforms.com, Cherokee Workware Unisex V-Neck Top.
The three scrub top colors chosen: Grape for the first floor, Hunter Green for the second floor, and Galaxy Blue for the third floor. Image: CherokeeUniforms.com, Cherokee Workware Unisex V-Neck Top.

Below is an up close picture of the Cherokee Workware Unisex V-neck scrub top, in the color Galaxy Blue, which is the same color as the third floor, the Surgical Department.

Cherokee Workwear Unisex V-Neck scrub top, in the color Galaxy Blue.
Cherokee Workwear Unisex V-Neck scrub top, in the color Galaxy Blue.

In regards to the disposal of the current tops, I have reached out to the local animal shelter here in town, and found that they take clothing donations to make dog beds, toys, and other care items for stray animals. The shelter is able to pick up large quantities of clothing at a time, or they could do multiple trips if we need to integrate the new scrub tops slowly into the current rotation. They are open to suggestions, and are very willing and able to discuss with the hospitals financial department about a tax write off for such a large donation.

While the new scrub tops are being brought in, the old degraded tops will be stored in a large vacant room, adjacent to the Uniform Department, in the basement. There are very large freight elevators to use, which are accessible through the back of the hospital to a loading dock, for an easy pick up by the animal shelter.

Proposed Schedule

Here is the tentative schedule from ordering the tops, to getting the deteriorating garments out of the hospital. The Cherokee Company guarantees five-day-shipping on such large orders.

June 10 Scrub tops ordered
June 15 Scrub tops arrive at hospital
June 15-19 New scrub tops integrated into hospital rotation, while existing degraded tops are picked up by animal shelter
June 20 All new scrub tops in full rotation
June 20-22 All old unusable tops picked up by animal shelter

Qualifications

As a Registered Nurse of twenty years, ten of which have been in this hospital, I’ve acquired a wide variety of skills and have been a part of some great community partnerships, including:

  • Volunteering at the local VA (U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs) here in town.
  • Help organize low cost mobile medical clinics for low income families.
  • Managed food donations from the hospital to the local homeless shelter.
  • Help arrange volunteer music performers and licensed trained therapy dogs to visit patients in the hospital.

A hospital is a huge teamwork environment, and I am very thankful for all the facets of such a large infrastructure. I have not only seen the setback with the medical workers over the degrading scrub tops, but also with the Uniform Department themselves. These workers put forth such incredible efforts to keep the health workers well supplied with clean and usable uniforms. I am very thankful for their hard work, and am willing and able to help them as much as I can with the process of obtaining new tops.

Costs 

Over the past month, I have volunteered my time to the research and reports I have conducted. However, I understand that cost is an incredible factor when deciding on something, especially when it comes to thousands of dollars to be spent.

The Uniform Department has thirty workers, who clean and maintain the hospitals scrubs. After talking to many of them and their supervisor, they would only work three extra hours every shift to consolidate the old tops, and take in and manage the new shipment. Below is an estimation on worker hours and pay, but with definitive numbers on the scrub top order and shipping costs. There is no sales tax, because we are in Oregon.

400 Grape colored tops (First floor) $6,792.00
400 Hunter Green tops (Second floor) $6,792.00
200 Galaxy Blue tops (Third floor) $3,396.00
5-day-shipping $500.00
**Estimation of extra work hours from Uniform Department $4,000.00
Estimated Total $21,480.00

** The extra work hours from the Uniform Department is based off of an estimation the payroll department was able to relay to me. I understand that it is unlawful to know my fellow employees’ pay rates, however, the above estimation was approved by the Uniform Supervisor, Mary Johnson and the hospitals’ Payroll Officer, Jerry Smith. None of the thirty uniform workers will go above the overtime mark, which is forty hours a week.

Conclusion

With the current scrub tops declining in quality, there is no better time than now to purchase new tops. The Cherokee Workware Unisex V-Neck scrub top is guaranteed to last eight or more years, due to the high polyester content. The price of $16.98 each is an excellent deal, considering many other brands and models are well over $25 each.

I have dedicated many hours to this important need, because this company has treated me very well, and I am honored to be a part of this team. To uphold the hospitals’ integrity of partnership is influential to me. The idea of the Mrs. Johnson asking for the hospital employees input, shows that this corporation is appreciative of their employees’ hard work.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of the supervisors, administrators, and workers for maintaining the hospital and continuing its reputable standing in the medical field.

For more information, or to speak with me directly, please email me at mblair@hospital.com, or call me at (541)555-1234. I look forward to hearing from you.

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One comment

  1. You have written a great report on changing the old scrubs for the new ones and a very detailed one. It will be helpful for my sister in her college too. Indeed one should change the scrubs if they get old. But some companies manufacture them in such a way that they are not needed to wash frequently like Cherokee Uniforms, http://www.salusuniforms.com/, My Nursing Uniforms, Scrubs And Beyond, etc. And they are comfortable too.

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