Emptying linen and garbage bags. ..part of a Nurses jobs description?

[Giveheart]

So I think most nurses do help cleaning staff by emptying linen and garbage bags if they are full. Especially on the night shift where there is less cleaning staff. Some even dispose of them down a chute. But what if you injure yourself while lifting these?...are you covered? Are you concerned about your own safety and refuse to do it?

[texashyles]

Wow. I guess you've never worked on a cardiac unit or any other unit where you must assist obese patients with mobility. Nursing can be a very physical job, but if you are concerned, you can get a job behind a desk. You must know your limits to be sure, to allow for safety of yourself and the pt, obviously.

Umm, don't mean to be rude, but this kind of thinking is what gives new nurses a bad name. I was talking with a seasoned nurse the other night and she expressed it this way. She informed me that new nurses limit this and limit that and whine about the facility putting wrongful demands on them and that a new nurse might refuse to replace a pt's colostomy bag because the facility did not have any in stock. A seasoned nurse would take the bag off, rinse it out, and reuse that if that were all she could do. She would take care of her pt first, and then report the issue to the facility. Pt's come first.

If taking out the trash bothers you, you're in for a lot more unpleasant surprises.

[steelydanfan]

At our facility, housekeeping won't clean up bodily floods. I find it really annoying. At burger king, if there is vomit on the table or poo in the toilet or pee on the floor, housekeepers clean it up. So I think it's silly that housekeeping won't go near bodily fluids. If they worked ANYWHERE else, they'd have to have contact with bodily fluids.

For the rate that I make, verse what a housekeeper makes, it doesn't make any financial sense to have nurses do this.

Besides the fact that when a person takes a housekeeping job in a hospital, they are certain to come into contact with bodily fluids, and thier training needs to reflect that fact. No difference in cleaning a toilet, sink or a blood spill, the same precautions are in effect.

[Who?Me?]

"Scope of practice" refers to your job duties. "Standards of practice" refers to giving the highest level evidence-based care possible.

[Who?Me?]

Have you ever lifted a full linen bag?

Every day! In the OR it is all hands on deck for cleaning after every case-management on down.

[pgray1229]

You don't pay thousands of dollars, to go to school, just to empty linen bags when you're an LPN or RN, do you??

ETA - Ya know many times I've pinched my sciatica just by turning wrong. You can def. hurt yourself by lifting up anything.

[Fuzzy]

You don't pay thousands of dollars, to go to school, just to empty linen bags when you're an LPN or RN, do you??

ETA - Ya know many times I've pinched my sciatica just by turning wrong. You can def. hurt yourself by lifting up anything.

The key word here is "just". You don't "just" want to be the janitor however I don't believe that frees anyone from keeping their working environment clean and healthy. I've seen the doctors in the vet practice clean cages and animals because it needed to be done at the time. I've also seen them run a mop and a washing machine. In vet practices, the letters behind your name doesn't get you out of the scut work.

Oh yes, I've tweaked my back a time or two. Mostly caused from picking up an animal that didn't think is was a good idea and there was a struggle. One of these was from a 5# cat. It doesn't sound like much however when a cat is upset and fully armed it can really kick your rear end.

Fuzzy

[nursel56]

I can't imagine people are taught to take out the garbage in ANY school. Here is a lesson:

close or tie off garbage bag

lift carefully from receptacle

carry to chute, curb, dumpster or wherever you put full garbage bags

place a fresh bag in the receptacle

wash your hands

There will be an exam next week, be sure you know this stuff!

You forgot to introduce yourself to the bag and explain what you are going to do ! (sorry I get like this once every 24 hrs it seems)

I do not owe an obese patient their turn right on the dot when no help is around - if it might mean my being tethered to a quad cane when my future grandchildren want to play in the park -- nope. Call me selfish like that.