Cost

Curiously, all the anesthesia equipment in Lucille Packard Children's Hospital is labeled with costs, from alcohol swabs ($0.01) and bandaids ($0.03) to pediatric bougies ($78). It really gives me a different financial perspective. Oddly, 10cc syringes are cheaper than 3cc syringes (by one cent, so it doesn't really change which I use). Oral airways of all sizes are the same price. I have mixed feelings about these labels. On the one hand, it is very important to be aware of cost. If I am highly unlikely to use something and it seems relatively expensive, I may not open it, but rather keep it available and packaged. But in the same light, it is a deterrent; I feel myself more reluctant to break open things I may not use, even if I know that I would otherwise. Am I less likely to use an expensive device if I know its actual cost? Do these numbers translate to altered patient care, and is that a problem? Is it absurd to be using things  without any sense of the cost to the hospital? I hadn't entertained these questions until I came to this new operating room setting.