Are your RN's mopping floors??

Specialties Operating Room

Published

Recently our brilliant hospital decided that we needed to spend 4 million dollars on hiring a consulting firm to help us out with a few problems. I am relatively new to the OR (1 1/2 years) and don't understand all the in's and out's.

SO...now we are trying to fix a few things like ...turn over time. We are a major Trauma Level 1 hospital in our area, we do about 700 or so cases a month (I think). We are also a Magnet Hospital. To get to the point, the consulting firm has suggested and is implementing the RN's and Scrubs (a lot of whom are RN's) to clean their own rooms...mop, etc....and then turn around and open the room (sterile supplies and all) for the next case.

Housekeeping has been eliminated. This is not a situation where we will be helping out, we will be ALONE to clean rooms. I want to help out as much as the next guy... and I'm not saying I'm above helping, but I don't feel that this is an effective use of my time, degree or my expertise. Nowhere was it mentioned by our consulting firm that time would be built in for changing mop heads and getting clean water, or putting on clean scrubs between cases. I don't feel that this is good, safe patient care OR time efficient!! These tasks will be in addition to opening the room, interviewing the next patient, making sure the next case cart is complete (and hunting down stuff if it isn't), and bringing the patient into the room.

How many of you are doing this?? Specifically cleaning your own room without the help of housekeeping and then opening sterile supplies?? How is your turnover time? Ours is approximately 38 minutes. Communication from the consulting firm is terrible...they haven't told us what time they want. What is your infection rate?? Are there any other suggestions about fixing our problem other than swinging a mop?? I don't remember having that in my clinicals!! Remember we are a teaching place with anesthesia residents that take forever to get anything done, not to mention the surgical residents doing the cases. Is this really efficient?? The nurses here are UPSET!!!...some talking about leaving, some writing the Chief Nursing Operator at the hospital, some talking about calling the Magnet office. This firm has made several changes, some good...some not so great. This, however, takes the cake.

Please.....I need some feedback on what other places the same size are doing. Maybe I could suggest something that will keep both ends of the stick happy.

Thanks.

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Specializes in O.R., ED, M/S.

We will clean rooms if necessary if it moves the schedule along. I see no problem cleaning the room, it isn't beneath me to do so. Sorry, I don't see a problem here. Mike

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I don't think its beneath me to mop the floor, particularly if my PCT is super-busy with another room, or getting my clean case cart, but all the time, every time? No, I think that's a waste of an RN's time. :stone If I wasn't so busy chasing down the correct equipment, making sure that the preop interview is done, and trying to make sure anesthesia isn't hauling back the patient before the room is clean, I might actually have the time!! I have a lot of things to do, and in an OR that busy (and where I am we are Trauma I with over 28 ORs), having to add another task is just plain dopey.

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Nurselily3, you didn't mention how long your turn-over time is at present and the amount of time the consulting firm recommends. Anyway, I had always been told that most hospitals don't have OR attendants to clean rooms between cases. By the previous responses, I don't feel so alone in feeling spoiled in that respect. I wouldn't mind mopping the floors, whatever it takes to move on to the next case. If anything else, at least I wouldn't miss some spots like they do on occasion. The truth is by the time stuff is wiped down and bags are thrown out the attendants are already there to do the rest.

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HI just going to add my two cents here. We never mop floors, unless it is when we are on call. I think that RN's mopping floors is not cost effective, think about it... a highly trained individual paid $30/hr vs an aid $12- $14 an hour? Besides when we are turning over rooms we have things to do. Interviewing our next pt, adding whatever else we need to our case cart etc. Also a good time to send someone for coffee or lunch. We have about 8-10 aids, who swoop in to get the room clean. They can turn over our rooms in as little as 8 minutes or as long as 20 minutes, depending on how many rooms are out at the same time and how dirty the room is. ( It is what they are trained to do, and personally I know they will do their jobs much better than an RN, as they pay more attention to the details of their job, b/c we just want to get in there. ) I don't necessarily think that this is always good. ie, sometimes our tables are still wet with disinfectant, (supposed to be wet and left to dry for 10 minutes in order to be effective). I think that $4 million could have spent better elsewhere. What looks good on paper not always works out the way they planned in the real world.

Bottom line, a good manager has the right people doing the right job. No it's not beneath you to mop a floor, but is it the best use of your talent/training and is it the most cost effective? Would you want the chef at your favorite restaurant mopping the floors and cleaning the restaurant between lunch and supper and then have him prepare your evening meal? Good luck and make sure you give us an update. P65

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I don't know about the OR. I have seen nurses and CNA's mopping the floors because the housekeepers won't do it. The housekeepers say if it is BM or vomit they don't have to do it.

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I don't know about the OR. I have seen nurses and CNA's mopping the floors because the housekeepers won't do it. The housekeepers say if it is BM or vomit they don't have to do it.

:chuckle hahaha, isn't nice to be able to be selective Take care, P65

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Specializes in 5 yrs OR, ASU Pre-Op 2 yr. ER.

It's not a matter of beinbg "selective". Quite a few LTC facilities have policies against housekeeping cleaning up "solid" wastes like BM or chunky puke.

As for the cleaning in the OR, we ALL pitch in for turnover time. It's called teamwork.

However, to get rid of housekeeping in the OR will slow down the turnover time.

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Specializes in jack of all trades, master of none.

Shirley, Lily said her average turnover was 38 minutes...

Anyway, I think that the scenario she mentioned is totally ridiculous.

I am also not above helping for turn-around, but please don't add that to my many other duties, case cart, room set up, pt interview, correcting the boo-boos that didn't get caught by surgical holding area, pulling meds, giving the meds that weren't given pre-op, paging docs for informed consents, out of date labs (not just a day or 2, but months)etc, etc, etc, bringing my pt to the room, by myself while anesthesia finishes the newspaper, (while I say,... Hey.. we're going back now. Oh ok, let me finish my coffee... Ummm no, gotta get started on time, or the nurses get in trouble)...paging the surgeon, paging anesthesia to let them know their pt is in the room even though I already told them, finding out the surgeon decided to go back to his office or do rounds without telling ANYONE!!!! OMG, I could go on & on why housekeeping in the OR should NOT be eliminated!!!! Oh, & I also clean up the spots that they miss... most of the time these are not tiny little spots, but large noticeable areas of splatters on equipment, etc... GROSS!!!! It would be waaaay worse without them helping. Don't get me wrong, they are soooo overworked it isn't funny, 3 rooms out at once, with 1 housekeeper to clean it.... frustrating for them & us, & oh, BTW, can you cut down your turnover time to maybe 12 minutes in the future? Sure, if I had magical powers... Gag me!!!!

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I'm a supervisor in an outpatient surgery center and I mop the floors (as well as other duties) during room turnover. Our turnover time is an average of 10-15 minutes. Yeah, I joke about it, having my BSN, CNOR, RT, and I spend quite a bit of time mopping floors(ha,ha):chuckle . Unfortunately that's how things are!

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I'm a supervisor in an outpatient surgery center and I mop the floors (as well as other duties) during room turnover. Our turnover time is an average of 10-15 minutes. Yeah, I joke about it, having my BSN, CNOR, RT, and I spend quite a bit of time mopping floors(ha,ha):chuckle . Unfortunately that's how things are!

Please note that we are NOT and out patient surgery center. We are doing NASTY BLOODY TRAUMA!!! We are doing very large orthopedic cases, large burns etc etc. I don't mean to be impolite, but comparing a outpatient surgery center to a trauma center is like comparing apples to watermelon..all fruit, but not the same. I"m glad that you are happy with your current work situation. DO you also have residents doing your cases??

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I had no intentions to belittle you or in no way compare an outpatient surgery center to a full blown OR, however your main post was inquiring about mopping, and my answer is YES I mop, and have ever since I started my career in the OR setting. My point is that I am in this business to provide a service to my customers, (the patient, the physician, and my fellow co-workers, and to the facility). It is not beyond me to mop, clean, take out the trash, or whatever the task may involve, sometimes that's what it takes and is all in a days work. I don't mean to rain on anybody's parade!

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