Hydration stations?

[Muser69]

Any one have this in a hospital setting? Agency nurse said that there are designated areas in unit where drinks are allowed . Anyone else hate OSHA?

[~PedsRN~, BSN, RN]

Indeed. However, on our unit - it only comes into effect for dayshift when the necessary people are scouring the unit.

[MrChicagoRN, RN]

These are JC & CMS requirements. In my department that means they have to walk a maximum of 25 feet to consume their beverages.

[Muser69]

These are JC & CMS requirements. In my department that means they have to walk a maximum of 25 feet to consume their beverages.[/quote

thanks. 25 feet. Didn't know that

[MrChicagoRN, RN]

These are JC & CMS requirements. In my department that means they have to walk a maximum of 25 feet to consume their beverages.[/quote

thanks. 25 feet. Didn't know that

no, no, that's not the standard. Just how close it is to my nurses station

[Ruby Vee, BSN]

in our unit, it isn't so much an OSHA issue as it is an issue with one of our surgeons. He walked through the unit, noticed nurses drinking coffee and threw a fit, stating that drinks should not be visible to patients or families. So our head nurse went through the unit designating "hydration stations" where we can stash our drinks on the day shift. The whole issue makes me angry because this very same surgeon tours the unit daily with a big cup of Starbucks in his hand.

[meanmaryjean, DNP, RN]

Our large, one-room NICU (where I float) has a small book case, turned so the back faces outward in a corner. You can walk behind it and stash your drink.

On night shift in the PICU (my home base), it is ok to have a drink at your station as long as it has a lid and is labeled with your name and contents.

[dudette10, MSN, RN]

Can someone tell me the rationale for all of this " no drinks" stuff? We can't even have them in closed containers.

[MunoRN, RN]

The JC, and typical health dept rule, is that you can't have food or drink "in patient care areas", what that means seems to be widely interpreted. Not all surveyors interpret this the same way, but at least the ones who have come to my facility in the past consider "patient care areas" to be anywhere on the patient's side of a point where pre/post patient care hygiene is performed. In other words, past the doorway threshold into a patient room. At my facility, you can have drinks in covered containers anywhere outside the patient rooms. I think the problem is far more often with bad interpretations of the rule on the part of facilities, not on what the surveyors actually enforce.

[blondy2061h, MSN, RN]

Our large, one-room NICU (where I float) has a small book case, turned so the back faces outward in a corner. You can walk behind it and stash your drink.

On night shift in the PICU (my home base), it is ok to have a drink at your station as long as it has a lid and is labeled with your name and contents.

So as long as my gin and tonic is covered and labeled as such, we're totally okay? I know, I know. Wishful thinking.

[blondy2061h, MSN, RN]

The JC, and typical health dept rule, is that you can't have food or drink "in patient care areas", what that means seems to be widely interpreted. Not all surveyors interpret this the same way, but at least the ones who have come to my facility in the past consider "patient care areas" to be anywhere on the patient's side of a point where pre/post patient care hygiene is performed. In other words, past the doorway threshold into a patient room. At my facility, you can have drinks in covered containers anywhere outside the patient rooms. I think the problem is far more often with bad interpretations of the rule on the part of facilities, not on what the surveyors actually enforce.

Yep, we're allowed covered drinks at the desk.

[amoLucia]

Can someone tell me the rationale for all of this " no drinks" stuff? We can't even have them in closed containers.

It was an OSHA/CDC thing back in the early 1990s when Universal Precautions first came out. Universal Precautions was originally intended for employee protection. Back in the day when HIV and Hep B were becoming so prominent.

It has since morphed into the vigilant infection control issue that it is today.

Just as an aside, it originally included the application of lip balm as prohibited.