ANGRY! There's no place to eat or drink 'round here!

TheCommuter, BSN, RN · Sep 17, 2007

I agree. Your hospital's new policy on food and drink really stinks.

Soup Turtle · Sep 17, 2007

My hospital has addopted a policy of No iota of food at or near one's work station. The rule is that all of your drinks (including bottled water) and all of any snacks are to be held in the lounge and never ever be near your area of work. Not even an innocent package of gum!
I agreee, having food in the hallway on counters left behind by staff from the last shift is troublesome and a nuissance when you have to spend time cleaning up other's messes. However, when the lounge is located 1/2 a football field's length from your patient's rooms, it's really quite inhumane to ask anyone to chase back and forth after an energy drink and take care of 5 patients all at the same time.
So that's basically my gripe! Not being allowed to have food or drink near your area of work!
I'll admit I've been known to hide my coffee now and then!

It sounds like you're going to have to get sneaky.:uhoh21:

TazziRN, RN · Sep 17, 2007

My last place had that policy, but in the ER and ICU we were able to get away with it because they are locked units.

EmilyUSFRN, RN · Sep 17, 2007

I have a story about this--

we're used to eating and drinking all night long on our unit after sleeping all day (well, i guess same is true for day shift) and one night a girl was floated down to NICU where having even bottled water is strictly a no-no. So... her blood sugar dropped and she passed out COLD in a back hallway only to end up in the ER hooked up to a liter of fluids and some O2.

Moral of this story... when working shifts longer than some are even awake, the rule of taking care of yourself first still applies. Hide your water and keep a granola bar in a pocket. if you have to sneak into an empty room to eat it even... if you aren't at your best due to hunger or dehydration your patients won't benefit at all.

bethin · Sep 17, 2007

I was told by my nm that it is either a board of health violation or a jcaho violation. Either way, it stinks and we don't follow it unless surveyors are around.

RNperdiem, RN · Sep 17, 2007

How strictly followed is the rule, and how far away is the lounge?

If the lounge is near, keep some quick nibbles on hand and a bottle of water. Duck in, have a nibble and get back to work. That's how it works for me. I don't like to move coffee mugs and soda cans around to find a place to chart.

morte, LPN, LVN · Sep 17, 2007

actually it is an OSHA reg...so t is for YOUR protection....to prevent you from eating/drinking contaminated food/fluid

mianders, RN · Sep 17, 2007

OSHA or JCAHO says that a nurses station is a patient care area and that is why you can not have food or drinks there. I have been a nurse a long time and have never seen a nurse do patient care at the nurses station. It is a rediculous rule made by people who have no idea what they are talking about on this matter. Don't get me wrong they are both worthwhile orginizations, but this rule is wrong.

BabyRN2Be · Sep 17, 2007

Maybe OSHA has changed this regulation in the past 10 years, but there are some places where you can keep a drink out but it has to have either a cap or lid on it.

What's really a shame about this is that you can't have food or drink or some type of nourishment nearby, yet you possibly won't get a lunch break either in which to consume some type of nourishment for the energy you need to get through the shift. :uhoh3:

TigerGalLE, BSN, RN · Sep 17, 2007

We aren't allowed to have food or drinks at the nurses station either. Our nurse manager makes her rounds in the morning throwing any food or drinks directly into the trash. No questions asked. So I've learned to just suck it up and keep it in the break room. If I don't it will get trashed by 7:30. I think it is a DHEC violation. And if we get caught the hospital gets charged $10,000. At least that is what my NM says.

Tiger

NursingAgainstdaOdds · Sep 17, 2007

Ah, the first thing we hide when we have a JCAHO scare... :lol2:

I can understand why it's a policy. It makes perfect sense healthwise to minimize the opportunities to contaminate your body. However, as has been previously stated, many of us don't get breaks/lunch and work long shifts, so there is a need to break this rule often. For my own part, I am very cautious. I acknowledge I am taking a risk by eating at work, but I think the risk of harming a patient or smashing my face into the tile is much greater, as I'm very prone to hypoglycemia.