Disgusting conditions on my floor. What would you do?

[lsvalliant]

Hi guys. I'm a nw nurse so I hope this isn't normal. I've noticed that my floor seems really dirty compared to some of the floors I did my clinicals on in other hospitals. For instance, one night my pt urinated all over the floor, so I asked my preceptor who I should call to clean it up. She told me I had to do it myself and to use mouthwash because we didnt have any cleaning supplies on the floor. Disgusting huh? Also, I recently learned that their was a case where an actress contacted flesh eating bacteria in a surgical wound while staying on my floor. What would you do if you were me.... report it, quit, or just keep my mouth shut? I need some

[FireStarterRN, BSN, RN]

No one ever uses that mouthwash for anything else it seems...

[lsvalliant]

haha. hopefully I will be in a galaxy far far away when they or JACHO shows up. I wouldn't even know what to say if they asked me.

[philanurse74]

How gross and unsafe and unfair. I would look for another job and blow the whistle. Very unsafe environment for all patients as well as staff. I just had a moment where, again, I realized I LOVE my hospital:redbeathe. This would never happen there.

[Riseupandnurse]

I used to work in an office of doctors many years ago, before I became a nurse. I was "trained" (haha) to run the EKG machine. We got an average of 20 patients who needed EKG sa day, but were alloted only 5 to 6 paper tops. We always had more women than that, so we had to refold them and reuse them so they lasted all day. This same group raised Cane because my EKGs became too scratchy. Called me incompetent, etc. because I couldn't figure out what to do, even though I didn't get any training to speak of. Finally after a week of berating me they discovered one of the cable wires was so old it would no longer conduct the electrical impulses very well. Same group: When they decided to get rid of someone, they would advertise for that person's job in the local newspaper. Everyone read the want ads every few days to find out if they were getting fired. When I left there I went into nursing school.

[pagandeva2000, LPN]

We don't have housekeeping during the night either. If something is accidently spilled, the CNA is supposed to clean it up. If she's very busy and can't leave a patient (there's only 1 CNA on the unit during the night shift) and the spill has to be urgently cleaned up, the RNs do it, but OMG - who ever heard of using mouthwash for this? What's next, cleaning blood with toothpaste?

No, but the next intelligent instructions given by morons will be to spit on the ground, get on your knees and clean it with the toothbrush. Insane!:angryfire

[pagandeva2000, LPN]

OP, just be sure that if you decide to report it, you are long gone and far, far away.

[november17, ASN, RN]

I used to work at a nursing home as a CNA. We had NO cleaning supplies. Here's a good story for you...

I had this patient and I was getting her ready for bed. I was taking off her TED hose and her foot starting bleeding all over the place. Just hemorrhaging out of the skin. Literally a pool of blood on the floor. I notified the nurse, etc ,etc. Anyways, there's this pool of blood on the floor, and no cleaning supplies available to me.

So the maintenance person is standing out there with a mop bucket and a mop and a whole cart of cleaning supplies. Watching what's going on. It was the end of my shift, so I figured she had it covered, right?

Nope. She cleaned up the blood, and then wrote me up for not cleaning it up myself. I got called on the carpet for it. I told the DON that was most illogical crap I ever heard...I DIDNT EVEN HAVE ANYTHING TO CLEAN IT UP WITH BESIDES WATER AND PAPER TOWELS!!! Meanwhile the person who wrote me up was standing right outside the door with disinfectants and a whole cart of cleaning supplies. I quit that place a few weeks later. It is an area nursing home and I would never recommend it to any of my patients at the hospital or anyone that asks in general. What a dump!!