nurses evaluating medical device packaging during healthpack&rsquos &ldquovoice of the customer&rdquo session captivated attendees at this year&rsquos conference, held in norfolk, va.organized by the institute of packaging professionals&rsquo medical device packaging technical committee, the panel of three nurses opened several different medical device packages submitted for review.as in past years, nurses expressed the desire for easytoopen packages. &ldquoi like packages you can just open easily and present without items jumping or flying out,&rdquo one nurse said.a couple of the nurses seemed to prefer packages that could peel open at package corners. they also said they would like to see more area at the edge of packages for them to hold on to when opening. &ldquoif you give us more room, it is not as difficult to pull apart,&rdquo said one nurse.and one suggestion was made for companies to highlight the edge intended for opening.one nurse said she finds header bags difficult to use, saying they are &ldquohard to hold and present.&rdquo and another nurse said foil packaging &ldquofeels like super glue.&rdquo another nurse said she did not like &ldquoa package in a package.&rdquo&ldquodumping&rdquo or &ldquoflipping&rdquo items into the sterile field continues to be a common practice, as evidenced by the panelists&rsquo descriptions. &ldquosmall items can be flipped into the sterile field, but not big or heavy items,&rdquo described one nurse. &ldquoi am not going to drop something my paycheck cannot cover,&rdquo said one nurse.nurses also expressed concerns about packages that have &ldquosharp edges poking out of the packages upon opening.&rdquoshrink wrap can also be hard to remove, said one nurse, noting that having a pull tab would beneficial.nurses did like trays because they offer &ldquoa harder base i can hold,&rdquo said one nurse. &ldquostuff won&rsquot flop out of a hard plastic tray,&rdquo said another.however, snaps &ldquocould hinder getting a device out of a tray,&rdquo said one nurse.nurses were also concerned about the amount of packaging waste generated when opening products. &ldquothe less trash, the better,&rdquo one nurse said. recycling is of interest, but &ldquowhen convenient,&rdquo said one nurse. another noted that they cannot leave the room to throw stuff away.click here for details on healthpack 2016, which will be held march 1517, 2016, in new orleans 
