Published
Nothing...
(i mean it should be paid for!)
I think bed baths are an important part of nursing care and shouldn't have a 'price' as many would choose not to have one or try to do it themselves when they are unable to. I enjoy the interaction between my patient and myself. Patients cannot see their backs/ shoulders they wouldn't know if skin was breaking down.
I appreciate that being a paediatric nurse, we are generally better staffed than general adults nurses. This is my experience anyway in the UK. Its seems in the USA it is acceptable for nurses to have a huge caseload were you don't have much time.
Ruby
Please don't flame me its just my thought on this!
I'm sorry
But I don't think nurses should be required to perform personal hygeine duties. These are exact reasons that nurses are going to be expected to suck it up, or not think they are better, or not have a defined role. Hell if we are washing people we should be able to brush their hair, and shave them, and clean the rooms, and everything else. What about what we go to school and learn, what about the patient's cardiac status, etc. I am sorry but I just think that is tooooooo much. Times have changed, they keep increasing the education and skills required of nurses, yet keep adding more to our workload. Expecting nurses to do everything they used too, plus a million more things. And if it's about "being too good" why doesn't everyone help to do am care, why not the doctors, resp therapists, etc??? I mean it's all fine and dandy to want close interaction with the patient, but when you have to assess two times a day(baseline), take orders, do admissions and discharges, draw bloods, start IV's, pass meds, pick on on docs mistakes, keep an eye on the monitors, and print and name EKG's then having to worry about washing people and passing trays seems to be a little much.
Just my opinion.
I have learned more from my patients when talking to them during a bath than reading the chart. Of course you don't always have time to give bed baths, but what a great way to get to know your patients. Nothing sounds better than having a patient thank you for helping them get cleaned up and for talking to them. All the extra duties are important (labs, EKGs, monitors..), but isn't nursing supposed to be about the nurse-patient interaction?
AndyLyn
95 Posts
We've been talking some about nursing as an independent profession, and that if that is ever really to happen, nurses have to be able to charge a fee for service rendered... Well, that got me to thinkin'. If that's ever going to happen, we'll have to agree on a number ($) for everything!
So, for starters...
Just what would you charge for a linen-changing, bottom scrubbing, hair brushing, all-over washing with good mouth care and all?
Can't wait to see what everyone else thinks.