housekeeping?

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Specializes in ER PACU.

the administrator at our 15 bay freestanding ambulatory surgery center is now ordering the RN's to haul and empty the dirty linen! she also wants us to "clean the pt's toilet between each use". this is in addition to the nurses spraying down and cleaning the stretchers-which we already do. we are PACU nurses-not housekeepers. we have a pt. load of 40-60 cases a day! she tells us we will be written up for insubordination if we don't do this work. has anyone else experienced this?! we have NO housekeeper during the day-only a guy at night who barely cleans. the place is filthy and i'm surprised no pt has complained. what to do?

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Call her on her BS. Or call inspector and have the placed cited.

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I live in fresno ca

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Specializes in ED/trauma.
the administrator at our 15 bay freestanding ambulatory surgery center is now ordering the RN's to haul and empty the dirty linen! she also wants us to "clean the pt's toilet between each use". this is in addition to the nurses spraying down and cleaning the stretchers-which we already do. we are PACU nurses-not housekeepers. we have a pt. load of 40-60 cases a day! she tells us we will be written up for insubordination if we don't do this work. has anyone else experienced this?! we have NO housekeeper during the day-only a guy at night who barely cleans. the place is filthy and i'm surprised no pt has complained. what to do?

If you have a copy of it, check your job duty list. If not, get it from HR. Does it include those duties (or any wording that could be skewed to infer those duties)? If not, shove it in her face and contact HR. You are NOT responsible for housekeeping duties any more than they are respondible for yours! Yes, I realize there's a license issue when the tables are turned, however, you're cutting into your "nursing" duties by performing housekeeping duties, therefore, compromising the care you give to your patients, and ultimately, putting their SAFETY at risk. Always go back to safety!

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Specializes in Med Surg, Hospice.

Even though it is not in my job description, I wipe down stretchers, wheelchairs, and slider boards after use. I know I wouldn't want to be sitting or laying on a dirty one that nobody could be bothered to wipe down. Just plain icky.... I also haul out the trash and the dirty linens, but that is just me because I'm anal about stuff like that.

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Specializes in ICU/ER.

At my facility housekeeping does not touch BSC's, nursing has to empty and clean them. We also empty the pts trash cans and linen containers and take them to the dirty utilities room. Housekeeping cleans the floors and the pts beds. We clean the towers behind the beds and the monitors and machines.

Housekeeping does clean the staff and public bathrooms though. I have no idea why they would touch one toilet but not another?

FYI I learned that housekeeping does not do the bed side commodes the hard way, I had only worked maybe a few days and I saw housekeeping was in a room cleaning after a dismissal and the bsc was out in the hall, I picked the bsc up to take it to the clean utility room only to have stale urine splash out onto my pant leg.

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Specializes in Case mgmt., rehab, (CRRN), LTC & psych.
what to do?
Ask the administrator to assume some of the housekeeping duties, and see how he/she reacts.

Having the nurses assume added housekeeping duties is nothing more than a pitiful ploy to save the company some money. Look at all of the dollars they will have saved by not having to pay annual salaries to housekeeping staff.

The bottom line is the root of all evil. . .

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Specializes in alzeheimers, skilled, assis. living.

I agree totally with the last post. It is about MONEY. Sad too.

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Specializes in alzeheimers, skilled, assis. living.

I agree, it is about MONEY! Not wanting to hire someone for the cleaning.

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