"The Nurses and HCA's will be responsible for...

[Guest233447]

Cleaning the resident rooms and bathrooms."

This line drifted to my ears in the orientation for a brand new (lovely) private LTC facility opening here soon. This is Canada - we don't really do "private" care but the gov't of the province in which I live has recently handed over LTC to private for profit companies.

I am a new graduate nurse and so am happy to find a job wherever I can... until I hear this!

They have a housekeeping staff - these staff are responsible for keeping the (carpeted) hallways and common areas clean. We've been told they don't set foot in the resident's rooms - the nurses and health care aides will be responsible for cleaning these! What?!?

I am curious if any of you have heard of this before? I mean, great facility and all - the food, decor, building, etc all new and state-of-the-art. But they're saving money by having their nursing and auxillary staff acting as housekeeping??? How does this enable the best resident care?

I think I'm going to quit before I even finish orientation. I didn't go to school for 3 years to clean toilets.

What do you think?

[nrsang97, BSN, RN]

Well if that is the case why the heck do they have housekeeping in the first place? Isn't their job to clean and your job to take care of the patients. I don't know what this facility is trying to accomplish.

[DizzyLizzyNurse]

I wouldn't blame you for quitting. I wouldn't work as a housekeeper! No offense to housekeepers, you've worked many years to not have to do that!!!!!

[sweetnurse63, BSN, RN]

This must be a joke, very funny:rotfl:

[Pixiesmom, BSN, RN]

Strange. I worked in a LTC facility that sounds familiar to this one but we didn't technically clean the residents rooms or bathrooms. We made sure they looked nice and I did sanitize the common restroom after each resident used it. I wonder how well they have thought this through.

[Guest233447]

I wish it were a joke... but it isn't. They even took the time to show us which color of cleaning cloths are to be used where, and all the janitorial carts/vaccuums, etc.

HCA's there do meds, the nurses do assessments, charting, etc and PRN narcotics. The rest of the time you're pitching in with all hands-on resident care and ADL's. Which I guess theoretically gives me enough time to clean bathrooms.

[Guest233447]

Oh, and doing the residents laundry (not including facility linens) and cooking breakfasts in the "cottage". It's the Eden philosophy - less "institutional" which I guess blurs the lines between professional nursing care and general housekeeping...

[kool-aide, RN]

That's awful! Bail while you still can!

[nrsang97, BSN, RN]

Run and don't look back.

[Orange Tree]

It's not going to get done. No one is going to have the time. I think I'd stay for the write-up so I could frame it and laugh really hard every day.

[Pixiesmom, BSN, RN]

I wish it were a joke... but it isn't. They even took the time to show us which color of cleaning cloths are to be used where, and all the janitorial carts/vaccuums, etc.

HCA's there do meds, the nurses do assessments, charting, etc and PRN narcotics. The rest of the time you're pitching in with all hands-on resident care and ADL's. Which I guess theoretically gives me enough time to clean bathrooms.

Will the HCA's be passing meds under your license or are they licensed to do that?

[sweetnurse63, BSN, RN]

They can't be serious, sounds like this facility has a good idea about creating a homelike setting but they are going about it the wrong way. Now, if i see a towel or something on the floor by all means, i would pick it up or even help to clean the floor if a patient had an accident, but to make it part of the nurse job description is ridiculous!!!!!!