I will always empty and rinse out bedpans that contain straight urine, but if somebody has a BM in a bedpan, I often don't empty it at all. I just throw the bedpan, stool and all, straight into the trash can and get another one for later use. I think it is so gross to rinse out stool over the sink as it drips and splashes all over the place. It can also be difficult and time consuming to wash out large, sticky pieces of stool from the plastic.
However, recently another nurse told me that it was against policy to throw out bedpans that contain stool and that the housekeepers get mad about it. I haven't been able to find documentation of that but just to be safe, I sometimes will cover the bedpan with paper towels after tossing it.
How do you handle bedpans? Do you wash them out or throw them out?
This thread reminds me of the LTC facilities where I started out working that all had those spray levers at the toilet that were never operable. We also had an autoclave in the "soiled linen" room where the metal bedpans were supposed to be processed, but those were never used either. Then came plastic. Have yet to see the disposable cardboard models.
Specializes in Med nurse in med-surg., float, HH, and PDN.
Don't the plastic pans get charged to the patients?
I've never seen or heard of the paper mache kind!
Yeah, I trained in the day of metal bedpans and no gloves ever used for anything except sterile procedures. I am still alive to tell the tail and have a very healthy immune system. I've got antibodies that have antibodies, I guess!
You ought to hear a metal bedpan hit a tiled floor at 2 AM! No other sound like it in the world! :)
Our infection control wizards sent out memos last year that we were to line the pans and dispose of the lining. We are no longer to dispose of the bed pan contents in the patient toilet but in the dirty utility room. Sure, nothing better than walking around the unit with a sloshing bedpan to get there
And yes, I know to cover it before leaving the patient room
This idea was not mine originally. Nurses I work with have worked in many other hospitals and bring some clever ideas with them. This one is my favorite new practices. I used to carry the covered bedpans across the unit to the dirty utility room (no bathrooms in these older ICU rooms) and try not to get splashed too much when rinsing them out.
Please review your facility policy & procedure... if it doesn't reflect current evidence-based practice, start raising cain & notify the 'powers that be' that it needs to be changed. However, failure to follow P&P, even if you have a justifiable reason for your decision, can have negative consequences.
I'm just a student observing this thread out of curiosity, but this sounds like a facility policy issue to me. Long ago I used to work with food, and if people started throwing away things they were supposed to reuse (reusing things they were supposed to throw out for that matter), you would hear about it right quick.
I like to line the bedpan with a chux. The chux liner gets thrown out and the bedpan remains clean for reuse.
I love this idea!
We used plastic ones in the facility that I work for. I have been doing it the way I have been taught and that is to toss it in the red bio bag. If it is urine, I will rinse it out and reuse it for the same pt. When the patient leaves, it gets tossed. I like the idea of having disposable ones. I am going to bring that to the attention of management.
Does anyone else have problems with spillage?? It seems like there is never a time when the pt is taken off a bedpan and doesn't have that problem. Maybe it's me, maybe I need more practice. I'm excited about the chux idea though. Maybe that will help.
I have never even thought to reuse it. We have plastic ones but ew, I wouldn't want to clean a BM out of that! I flush the majority of the stool down the toilet but then I pitch it.
caliotter3
38,333 Posts
This thread reminds me of the LTC facilities where I started out working that all had those spray levers at the toilet that were never operable. We also had an autoclave in the "soiled linen" room where the metal bedpans were supposed to be processed, but those were never used either. Then came plastic. Have yet to see the disposable cardboard models.