Name a stupid policy/idea your facility thought would fly

Asystole RN · May 16, 2012

Oh, and her even crazier side-kick, the infection control nurse, is an even BIGGER pain in the butt. She decided that the biohazard bins in the rooms were, well, a biohazard, and had them all removed. So now all biohazard material has to be walked down the hall to the dirty utility room. So now instead of the cooties being contained in the room, we have the opportunity to scatter them to the winds as we walk down the hall. But we can't just put them in the room, we have to bag them before we take them out of the patient room, but then didn't provide us with any bags.
And around and around we go.

I've never seen a biohazard bin kept in a patient's room before. I have always bagged biohazard within the room and then transported to a soiled utility room. Same thing goes for linens too.

Asystole RN · May 16, 2012

My company comes up with new policies now and again, but we mostly ignore them. What gripes me is a hospital where we have an inpatient dialysis unit. The director of the unit where we do dialysis is very insecure and wants everyone to know that we MUST respect her A-THOR-A-TAY! Weirdo things like keeping needles covered up on the supply cart because someone might get ahold of one, even though they are sealed in packages; requiring that we stop by and check in with security whenver we come into the building even though we already have badges with security clearance. For a while she tried to make it a rule that we had to have two nurses in the dialysis unit at all times even if we only had one patient. She quickly change her mind when she was told they'd have to pay the other nurse for that. Her latest rule is that we cannot have a female dialysis patient in the same room as a male dialysis patient - even though chronic units dialyze male and female patients in the same room all the time. What chaps my behind is the way our management caves into her crazy demands. I wish they would just tell her that she can't tell us how to run our business, thankyouverymuch.

You have to only cover your sharps? I have to keep all sharps locked, I believe it is a JCAHO safety rule. The two nurse rule does not sound too extreme to me... keeping a minimum of two nurses present for a procedure is not uncommon, it's a safety consideration should the patient go bad. It is not something that I always see but I certainly do not think the practice is abnormal or silly, honestly I think it is rather prudent, especially for dialysis.

Jenni811, RN · May 17, 2012

The PTB in our corporate offices sent out an infection control memo that said we should be cleaning things like poles, bp cuffs(before each pt had their own) as soon as we enter a room. You know, while we are introducing ourselves, talking about plans of care. They said it would be reassuring to the patient. I am saying I, if a patient, would be asking WHY that wasnt cleaned BEFORE it came into my room.

exactly why we made it policy to clean it infront of the patient AFTER we use it on them. that way they see we really do clean them and can be more at ease knowing if we did it for them then we did it when we were in other patients rooms.

Another hospital i did clinicals at had blood pressure cuffs for every patient they kept wrapped to a side rail on their bed. During the admission, the bedside nurse had to fit the patient for proper size blood pressure cuff and leave it in patient's room. the CNA's then just went around with the blood pressure machines and hooked it up to the cuff at the patient's bed. That way only the machine head and cords had to be cleaned.

Guest372004 · May 17, 2012

My union dues are very high which means the union makes a ton of money but...........due to them, my salary would never be as high as it is without a union.

Esme12, ASN, BSN, RN · May 18, 2012

My union dues are very high which means the union makes a ton of money but...........due to them, my salary would never be as high as it is without a union.

In my part of the country....the Northeast. I have worked at both Union and nonunion facilities. I will tell you the union nurses make more money by FAR than non-union nurses and they actually have pensions and better benefits....which non-union nurses don't.The highest paid nurses by far......by about > $30.00 dollars an hour for senior nurses....is the union facility.

Asystole RN · May 18, 2012

In my part of the country....the Northeast. I have worked at both Union and nonunion facilities. I will tell you the union nurses make more money by FAR than non-union nurses and they actually have pensions and better benefits....which non-union nurses don't.The highest paid nurses by far......by about > $30.00 dollars an hour for senior nurses....is the union facility.

I am in a non-union state and I am by far the most junior of nurses in my department, by about 10 years actually, and I make more than $30/hr. If $30/hr is a lot I am afraid to see what low pay is, lol.

Guest372004 · May 18, 2012

Asystole I think she meant union pay was $30/hr more. If so, that is a lot more.

ICU_JOSIE, MSN, RN · May 19, 2012

Unions do help : )

tokmom, BSN, RN · May 20, 2012

I've never seen a biohazard bin kept in a patient's room before. I have always bagged biohazard within the room and then transported to a soiled utility room. Same thing goes for linens too.

We have bio bins in the pt's room. It's a lot cleaner than dragging nasty things down the hall. It's the first hospital that I have ever worked at that have them so located. No complaints here!

TNT: What brainiac thought of wiping down the cuff before? I would be questioning why it wasn't cleaned prior, lol

tntrn, ASN, RN · May 20, 2012

We have bio bins in the pt's room. It's a lot cleaner than dragging nasty things down the hall. It's the first hospital that I have ever worked at that have them so located. No complaints here!
TNT: What brainiac thought of wiping down the cuff before? I would be questioning why it wasn't cleaned prior, lol

I asked that question of the infection control nurse. She thanked me for the feedback and said it had come down from corporate. As if we couldn't have guessed that.

Esme12, ASN, BSN, RN · May 21, 2012

I am in a non-union state and I am by far the most junior of nurses in my department, by about 10 years actually, and I make more than $30/hr. If $30/hr is a lot I am afraid to see what low pay is, lol.

I'm sorry I wasn't clear.....they make $30.0/hr more than non union facilities. There are many senior nurses at a prominent Boston hospital making in the ballpark of $70.00/hr without shift diff. But is is a difficult place to get into.

Been there,done that, ASN, RN · May 21, 2012

Mandatory overtime. Bwaahahha. Watch my big fat white azz walking out the door!