Does your LTC provide you with work supplies?

We have a unit clerk on each 45 bed unit to stock desk supplies, which they are responsible for ordering. We have a supply person who orders and stocks nursing supplies and they are always available on each unit.

Maybe you should save the receipts and either use them for a tax deduction or base your next raise request on the total yearly amount.

There's definitely something wrong with the facility that expects you to perform duties without supplying the necessary items.

Where I work we have adequate supplies. When a new order or an admission arrives on an off shift the supervisor goes to central supply for items if needed. Weekends are the biggest problem, no one staffs central supply from 4pm friday till 8am monday. Central supply gets a daily census and report from the nursing supervisor and they are present at the monday thru friday admissions meetings in the morning.

Forget about office supplies....try searching for an O2 sat monitor or a nebulizer machine...I work weekends and a big victory is that I can get the key to the wound treatment nurses office for dressing supplies. Our medroom is supposed to be stocked with supplies but rarely is. The hot item these days? - pillcrush bags and alcohol gel.

LOL, I always say that there must be a few gremlins around that only eat black pens(we can not use blue..only black)! They are always so hard to find at my facility! We have several med rooms, med carts and of course the front desk that are supose to have these supplies, but black pens, post its, or even forms I need are never available and I am running all over the place looking for them! Takes up much of my time in such a huge facility!

On my clipboard, in addition to my writing pad, I carry some of the important forms I need like spare MAR sheets, my fax sheet, and the like so I always have them around when I need them. I also attached a black pen to my clipboard with a braided string so I don't loose it...LOL! It is hillarious really, here I am with a pen on my clipboard, 1-2 black and red pens in my pocket, and a black pen behind my ear or lol both ears at any given time (can you tell I have been out of black pens too often??? LOL).

I have actually had to make an effort to NOT take pens from my caregivers med carts, and I have a ritual of cleaning out my pockets before I leave my nurses med room (really it is like a ritual..tells me my day is done and boom, here's your pens..walkie...and my clipboard I am outta here!). But why do I think there are many purses, homes, or even washing machines with lots of black pens from our workplace! LOL!

We have a central supply as well, and our receptionist does the ordering for office items. Central supply..good luck no way, never anything left in there...no the administration keeps office supplies under lock and key in their locked offices so they can have control over distribution...which doesn't help when they are not available LOL! But I can see why, heck pens and such add up quick!!!

If worse comes to worse I do keep my own supply in my purse (minimum of 3 black pens, one yellow highlighter, one red pen in my purse at any time). That has come in handy some days! And it isn't like us nurses don't have our little hidden stashes of supplies like squirrels in winter..LOL!

Hey who likes to wear those pens on lanyards around their necks? I find they get in the way too often...anyone love these???

Man, I work weekends and our central supply guy never makes sure we have enough stuff. One weekend we didn't have any O2 concentrators or O2 tanks. I was heated!:angryfire Everybody on O2 wanted to go out that weekend. Not to mention if anybody had to be started on it, all we had was what was on the crash cart. Nurses were thinking about who could come off temporarily and give to the person in need. It should never be that way!!:angryfire We are "under supplied" of the things that are vital! Last weekend I had to go to other halls asking for glucose test strips. This is very irritating when you have 5 mil. other things to do. I have started hoarding things in my nursing bag for when these situations arise. Extra glucometer/test strips, kerlix/opsites, NS, bed alarms, even an O2 tank gauge. Too bad I can't hide a tank We have access to the supply room, and there are still things not even there! I think our weekends would run so much more smoothly if everything was there. However, we always have "sticky notes"