Taking out the trash

[VAC]

Are any of you expected to take out the trash at work? I'm not talking about picking up after yourself in general, but taking the bag of trash to the soiled utility room.

I got offended when a nurse that followed me felt the need to point out that the trash can in a paitent's room was full and the room a little untidy when I'd left the morning before. I asked if housekeeping wasn't around all day to do it. We are expected to put away soiled linen bags, and pick up after ourselves, but I draw the line at taking out the trash. Housekeeping seems to be stretched a little too thin.. For the record, the patient insisted he wanted to sleep, as he had just recovered from an episode of shortness of breath, so I chose not to make extra noise in the room making it pretty. My other patients room was left spotless however.

What would you think if you went to a dentist, lawyer or gynecologist and you saw them taking out the garbage at their place of business. Aren't we also professionals? Let me know if my thinking is off the wall before I fire off an E-mail to my manager. And thanks for letting me rant :angryfire

[uk_nurse]

we are lucky on our unit we have not had any real problems with the rubbish bins. It is very rarely we empty the bins.The house keepers are there all day (they do shifts) and leave about 8ish.To be honest i have never had to empty a bin but if the need arose i would, if i was not busy caring for my patients.

[Agnus]

Do the unit secretaries pull the trash? Do the doctors? Do the respiratory therapists? Do the pharmacists? So why does everything automatically fall to the nurse. What next? Will it become part of the job description--pull linens and trash? Don't laugh, when I was working in the mid-1990s, it was part of it. I refused, but other nurses did it.

Will mopping the floor come next? Preparing meals? Laundry? How many of you work in units without full time clerks? Do you have to answer phones, do charts, etc?

Nurses fought hard to get rid of these chores, so they could spend time doing clinical work. And now it seems it's coming back around.

Sorry, but I don't see it as a nurse's job. Let the CEO come down and pull the trash, or the nurse manager, or the department head. The more you do, the more management will just heap upon you.

Sorry where I have worked the CEO does do trash as, does the pharmasist, and department heads and unit secretaries, and resp therapist.

Your slippery slope therory that if we do this then automatically other things follow does not hold water nor is it even logical.

[orrnlori, RN]

Wow, in the OR between surgeries, I've been known to even mop the floor if housekeeping has several rooms come out at the same time. I gather trash, linens and even make up the OR table. I guess the difference is that I do it because I want to get the next patient in the room, if management EXPECTED me to do it I'd probably swell up very fast and throw on the brakes. When I was in the unit I took the trash out if it overflowed or smelled. I really didn't think much about it. I can see both sides however.

[Rozhinitsy]

Sorry!! But I would empty the rubbish bins if they were full, as health and safety comes into being here. The domestics are usually very good at doing this however at night they are not around so much so.........! I have no qualms about doing this.

[zambezi, BSN, RN]

I empty the trash in my patients rooms...I clean the sink-tops and counters with alcohol wipes, if the floors have blood on them from a procedure, out comes a mop (or more alcohol wipes). For me, I work better in a clean environment, I don't like to see spots of whatever or overflowing trash cans or cluttery rooms if I am working in them. Seems to work for me...

[MisterDawg]

Well, I've already carried the trash out, so I'm outta here...hehehe. :chuckle

[heart queen]

I empty out the trash, only when I've put something soooo vile in it... even I can't stand it!! :rotfl: :rotfl:

I can only say this because our environmental service is sooo superb that I've not come across a full can.

Yep, that's me smiling... sorry guys!. But I certainly WOULD if needed, I just can't fill those can's faster than they empty 'em. :chuckle

[LesJenRN]

yes, we all take out the trash. it is always a good idea to have your room nice and neat for the next shift and they should do the same for you. of course the patients appreciate it also. sometimes it needs to be emptied multiple times .... housekeeping does it once but not at shift change...

[roxannekkb]

A lot of times the trash is full of nasty stuff and housekeeping only comes in to clean during days. So I don't mind emptying it. But never have I ever complained that someone before me left the trash full. I let the nurses decide for themselves without building it into their job description.

Interestingly enough on our unit, the CNAs presume it's part of their job to empty the trash qshift and leave the next shift an empty trash can.

That's the problem right there. Hospitals function on a 24/7 schedule, but housekeeping only comes to clean on days? So naturally then, the nurse is supposed to pick up the slack.

As I said in a previous post, there is nothing wrong with helping out on occasion, but not having housekeeping available basically means that these chores are being written into off shift nursing job descriptions. Instead of just emptying trash, pulling linens, cleaning up spills--nurses should be protesting. Demanding that the hospital hire on more housekeeping. Pull the trash and dump in the CEO's office.

This is what I don't understand. There is supposed to be such a shortage, which should put nurses in the drivers seat. That should include demanding that one be allowed to nurse, and not pick up everyone else's job. But instead, I keep reading stuff about how hospitals are more and more, cutting back on help such as housekeeping, and expecting nurses to do it. This is an enormous setback for nursing. No one else picks up the slack. Does the resident empty the overflowing linen? I doubt it, so why should the nurse do it?

Everyone has a job description. Why don't nurses? Why does it change at management's whim? Today you are nurse, janitor and secretary. Tomorrow you will also be phlebotomist.

[CCU NRS]

I empty the trash in my patients rooms...I clean the sink-tops and counters with alcohol wipes, if the floors have blood on them from a procedure, out comes a mop (or more alcohol wipes). For me, I work better in a clean environment, I don't like to see spots of whatever or overflowing trash cans or cluttery rooms if I am working in them. Seems to work for me...

I feel that you are probably very thorough and efficient and I also feel that many of us should/could be more like this and should learn from your example

[MisterDawg]

Hey, uhhh, we do our own blood draws where I work...and ya know what? When I get through, I pick up all my trash and carry it out, too!! Ya know, I take great pride in knowing that I've done the best I can do each day and so what if I clean up a room or take out the trash...those are just rules I live by, for myself as well as in the way I take care of others. We're all people, professional or whatever, and to draw lines over something as trivial as carrying out the trash when it is full belittles us all. Patient care comes first but to me, that's a part of it...I love it when somebody tidy's up for me.

That's the problem right there. Hospitals function on a 24/7 schedule, but housekeeping only comes to clean on days? So naturally then, the nurse is supposed to pick up the slack.

As I said in a previous post, there is nothing wrong with helping out on occasion, but not having housekeeping available basically means that these chores are being written into off shift nursing job descriptions. Instead of just emptying trash, pulling linens, cleaning up spills--nurses should be protesting. Demanding that the hospital hire on more housekeeping. Pull the trash and dump in the CEO's office.

This is what I don't understand. There is supposed to be such a shortage, which should put nurses in the drivers seat. That should include demanding that one be allowed to nurse, and not pick up everyone else's job. But instead, I keep reading stuff about how hospitals are more and more, cutting back on help such as housekeeping, and expecting nurses to do it. This is an enormous setback for nursing. No one else picks up the slack. Does the resident empty the overflowing linen? I doubt it, so why should the nurse do it?

Everyone has a job description. Why don't nurses? Why does it change at management's whim? Today you are nurse, janitor and secretary. Tomorrow you will also be phlebotomist.

[MisterDawg]

just had to add this...it's my horoscope for today...lol: :rotfl:

arieshoroscope (by astrocenter.com)

you take great pleasure in having a neat and organized house, dear aries. in your mind, cleanliness really is next to godliness. today, you may find yourself dismayed by how run-down you have allowed your home to become. it's time for some clearing out, scouring and scrubbing! do this yourself, rather than having hired help. you will be pleasantly surprised at how much it will help you to clear your head. - tomorrow - professional phone consultation - email an astrologer your question!

(no wonder i feel the way i do about this subject...heehee... )