Crackers in the med room?

[blackribbon]

I went to work this week after two days off and immediately had to admit a post-op patient on a PCA pump at the start of my shift. Well, the morphine relieved her pain but it also made her nauseous. I walked into the med room to grab a handful of saltines only to find that the new policy was to not keep crackers or juice in the med room ... or on the floor, it seems. (Note: our med room is also our clean supply room...so there are things like toothpaste, IV supplies, and dressing supplies in there).

Someone said it was budgetary and someone else said it was related to Joint Commission requirement that food not be in the med room...but I noticed that cans of soup were still there and baby formula was also fully stocked. Does anyone know anything about a JCO requirement that would align with this? The crackers and juice were individually packaged and had no need to be refrigerated.

My gut says this was a cost saving move and they completely missed the fact that those foods are not "snacks" but rather important treatment tools. I now have to go to the pantry to get the applesauce when I need to give my crushed meds (a minor inconvenience) but I live in fear of getting a low blood sugar and wasting my time standing at the tube station for someone to tube up a couple crackers and orange juice from "supply". And honestly, if a graham cracker helps a patient to go an hour longer without requesting a narcotic for pain, I kind of believe it is a few pennies well spent.

I have had an anorexic patient who would only eat at 2 am...and she would eat 2-3 cans of soup along with crackers & juice because she felt safe eating with me. So food or part of medication administration necessity, WHY would they be so short sighted as to tie our already limited hands even more?

(I think they really believe that the night shift nursing staff does nothing more than have juice and stale cracker parties in the med room at night because ... "don't the patients sleep all night long?")

I am so tired of trying to give good care when the hospital treats us like mooches on the system. I was so frustrated (floor was already understaffed, there were no normal sized gowns in the cabinet, and my nursing assist was pulled to be a sitter during the first hour of our shift without telling me so I was passing meds AND answering call lights)...and this in a top huge magnet hospital that is NOT hurting for money.

[dishes, BSN, RN]

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