Fess Up! How much HSP stuff is in your drawer???

Nurses General Nursing

Published

I must confess to having too much stuff accumulated over time in my junk drawer at home.

Nonetheless my thieving goods have come in handy for home repairs, the feeding of wild birds, and sending silk wrapped packages across state lines during the holidays.

I have the idiotic habit of taking one roll of tape to return and bringing home two. Oh well... there goes my raise!

Specializes in Gerontology.

Tape, alcohol wipes, gauze pads, steri strips (only needed two out of package, so brought the rest home for my first aid kit). A tube of bactroban - dropped it into my pocket to bring into room - pt got transferred to nursing home before I remember to apply it. It came home with me !

Gloves.

I also have a bad habit of dropping the probe cover from the tympanic thermometer into my pocket after use - I usually find one or two in the washer or dryer!

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Specializes in PICU/NICU.

I'm just a little crazy about this one... I empty my pockets before I leave. I do not want anything from that germ infested place anywhere in my home!!! My DH has this nasty habit of of chewing on pen caps (yuck) I wouldn't want him to have some "hospital C-diff pen " laying around the house.:barf01:

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Specializes in ER, Step-Down.

tape... saline flushes... and the worst of all - I'm ALWAYS bringing home the rare and elusive carpujets... perhaps that's why they're rare and elusive on the floor... ooops haha

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Specializes in Psych ICU, addictions.

Only alcohol swabs left and right--I don't realize I have them in my pockets until I'm emptying the pockets before I throw the uniform in the wash. I'm going to have to adopt PICNICRN's habit.

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Specializes in Med/Surg.

One of the happiest parts of my shift is the 30 seconds I spend dumping my pocket contents out right before I clock out! I NEVER take anything home with me!

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Specializes in ER, Med Surg,Drug Etoh, Psych.
I have a basket that I empty my pockets in every time that I get home... I have found the tape and the alcohol pads most useful... The saline flushes are not... lol... I just fill up my pockets the next time that I work and use what I have left...

I tend to end up with lancets which I take back as I don't need and garbage bags {the big ones} disappear off our unit.Don't even want to know how someone is carrying them out lol.

Seriously, recently I caught a potential employee attempting to pass off urine that had been placed in 2 of the 10cc NS flush syringes.Wouldn't have known if she hadn't dropped one in the bathrm floor !:twocents:

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Specializes in Acute post op ortho.
I tend to end up with lancets which I take back as I don't need and garbage bags {the big ones} disappear off our unit.Don't even want to know how someone is carrying them out lol.

Seriously, recently I caught a potential employee attempting to pass off urine that had been placed in 2 of the 10cc NS flush syringes.Wouldn't have known if she hadn't dropped one in the bathrm floor !:twocents:

Well, now you know how they're disposing of the bodies.......:D

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We were subject to random searches on our way out of the building by the 'alcohol pad gestapo.' One nurse got caught with a duragesic patch in her pocket. She swore she'd answered some call lights on her way to put it on the patient, stuck it in her pocket, then forgot about it. Even though her drug screen came up negative for anything, they still fired her. This same hospital would take other nurses that were addicted & put them through rehab. I guess she'd have been better off to say she was addicted, cause she lost her license over that.
You know it's for this reason I always empty my pockets before clocking out. I worked with a new RN who went through a similar ordeal for making a dumb but -I think- honest mistake. Sad that they give more consideration to an addict who admits to stealing drugs from patients than to someone who simply was too new to have the organizational skills and focus to work on a busy medical surgical unit.
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Specializes in Geriatrics, Transplant, Education.

i try to empty my pockets...but i make it home alcohol wipes usually, and thats normally about it...except for the duoneb vial that made it through the washer and dryer unharmed last weekend...lol

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Alcohol swabs. Expo markers. Sharpies. I've ended up with an earpiece or two for the tv's that never made it to the pt. Gloves. All the basics.

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Specializes in ER/Trauma.

IV caths (20s and 18s), tegaderm and tourniquets, saline flushes, alcohol wipes.

I bring 'em home and then I take 'em back to work.

cheers,

PS: DO NOT wash clothes with a tegaderm still in your pocket. The dryer will melt the blessed thing onto your clothes - permanently. :smackingf

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Specializes in school nursing, ortho, trauma.

i went home with the narc keys in my pocket once and the immediate return trip back to the hospital taught me to empty my pockets in that little span of time between taping report and giving updates. Though there have been times that i left the roll of tape in my pocket on purpose.

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