MSDS and hand lotion

LPN1974, LPN · Apr 13, 2005

Well, my word, I never heard of such.

I can't make it without handlotion. My hands get so terribly dry from washing them so much, I must have it.

I guess you'll just have to keep little tubes in your pocket.

As far as the bottled h20......what's up with that??? Why can't you have bottled water to sip on?

StephMSeattle · Apr 13, 2005

We're not reimbursed enough for the heavy care Medicare/Medicaid folks anyway. So they come in with a chip on their shoulder and make all of these stupid rules that facilities cannot possibly follow in order that they can fine us and justify their own jobs/existence. They don't give you any more money in order that you may comply with these regs. They do all of this under the name of "improved patient care standards." Then they add more and more patients to our census until we can no longer give them a reasonable amount of care. Make more stupid rules. Give us less money. Stop placement if they don't like your LTC facility.

WTF?!? I think I'm missing something here...

barefootlady, ADN, RN · Apr 13, 2005

Keep one of those small sample tubes in your pocket. We were instructed of the same thing over 2 years ago, so we carried our own or stashed a bottle behind the big binders in the book shelf.

You are right that it's regulations like this one that takes up time and makes the nurses life more difficult than necessary.

tntrn, ASN, RN · Apr 13, 2005

Ours is not a LTC facility, but the idea is the same. And I agree that JCAHO makes more regs each year just to justify their own existence. I'm not sure how much more stuff I can carry in my pocket. We have to carry this phone thing, which is way too heavy and way too loud when it rings, the necessary pens, scissors, kelly clamps, tape, (have to have my lip gloss), the report sheets. I'm walking lop-sided as it is.

For nurses to be required to ignore their own health (as in the no water bottles) is really unbelievable and you have to wonder if those making the regs, could work under those conditions? Oh wait, of course, they couldn't because they're obviously not bright enough to see how things really are!

mattsmom81 · Apr 13, 2005

Someone has too much time on their hands to think up all these ridiculous rules that take our time away from patients.

Had a friend with allergies to the 'hospital recommended' skin lotion and was repeatedly counseled/reprimanded for using hypoallergenic products...he was told there was no MSDS and he could NOT use it. Even the doc's note didn't work. He moved on to a less finicky control freak hospital. Course he was a LVN feeling a push out of critical care from higher ups and he suspected this was behind a lot of the harassment.

Sometimes I wonder if this crap is just about control tactics and nothing else.

Slobgob · Apr 13, 2005

Well, I know this isn't the answer that anyone wants to here... but...

1) Find a lotion or two that everyone likes.

2) Buy alot of it.

3) Print out MSDS for that lotion and insert.

4) *grumble* at innane ideas and enjoy the fact that you've gotten around the system

There ya go. =)

tntrn, ASN, RN · Apr 13, 2005

Yes, we maybe could find a lotion of two that 70+ people like and we could get the MSDS literature for it. But the issue is not how to get around the system, thereby kowtowing to the stupid rule, but why such stupid rules are even written in the first place, and why our hospitals who supposedly are so set on improving patient care don't stand up for us, just once in a while, and say, " That Regulation will in no way improve patient care and therefore we won't comply with it."

They'll be telling us what kind of undies to wear or whether or not we can bathe or shower and on which days. Give me a break. The regs are the reason why I hate going to work. I love my co-workers, and I like my job. I enjoy my patients, (okay, most of the time), but the working conditions are requirements we are being given on a daily basis are in no way enhancing our jobs, making them easier, improving patient care OR safety and it's starting to p*ss me off.

There, I feel better now.

LPN1974, LPN · Apr 13, 2005

Someone has too much time on their hands to think up all these ridiculous rules that take our time away from patients.
Had a friend with allergies to the 'hospital recommended' skin lotion and was repeatedly counseled/reprimanded for using hypoallergenic products...he was told there was no MSDS and he could NOT use it. Even the doc's note didn't work. He moved on to a less finicky control freak hospital. Course he was a LVN feeling a push out of critical care from higher ups and he suspected this was behind a lot of the harassment.
Sometimes I wonder if this crap is just about control tactics and nothing else.

This is the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard of.

How can the hospital mandate what a nurse puts on her/his OWN hands???

I just do not understand that.

My hands get really dry, from washing them so much, and I'm constantly trying out new lotions and creams, and I have found a few that have become my favorite. I would be ready to fight somebody if they told me I couldn't have my favorite hand cream. Where I work we get this old stock stuff, cheapest crap they can order for stock lotion, and it's just like it's been watered down. It's really a waste of money. I use my own hand cream.

rjflyn, ASN, RN · Apr 13, 2005

Actually there is another thing you need to keep in mind. Some lotions are incompatible with the soaps used in facilities. Also alot of them are not compatible with latex gloves as well. In fact the travel assignment i start in a couple weeks doesnt not allow outside lotions to be used in their hospital. If caught with one you can be disaplined like any other infraction. As far as getting an MSDS sheet for them typically thats not too difficult. But let me tell you one year I was assigned the task of updating them for our ER/EMS dept. Thats quite the task as there are MSDS sheets for things you wouldnt think of- for example white out.

As far as drinks at the desk that actually is an OSHA rule that typically gets ignored/ management looks the other way unless JCAHO or another inspection agency is visiting. I have seen it enforced variablly in my several years of hospital experence.

rj:rolleyes:

LPN1974, LPN · Apr 13, 2005

Actually there is another thing you need to keep in mind. Some lotions are incompatible with the soaps used in facilities. Also alot of them are not compatible with latex gloves as well. In fact the travel assignment i start in a couple weeks doesnt not allow outside lotions to be used in their hospital. If caught with one you can be disaplined like any other infraction. As far as getting an MSDS sheet for them typically thats not too difficult. But let me tell you one year I was assigned the task of updating them for our ER/EMS dept. Thats quite the task as there are MSDS sheets for things you wouldnt think of- for example white out.
As far as drinks at the desk that actually is an OSHA rule that typically gets ignored/ management looks the other way unless JCAHO or another inspection agency is visiting. I have seen it enforced variablly in my several years of hospital experence.
rj:rolleyes:

Years ago, when I worked as an aide in the local hospital, they had this red soap and that crap broke my hands out something awful.

My hands started to look like raw meat.

I finally got to a dermatologist. He told me it was actually my nerves, {YEAH, RIGHT, DOCTOR} but he gave me some ointment that cleared it up.

I will always believe it was that old red soap at the hospital. It was called something like "septisol".

It was like acid to my hands.

live4today, RN · Apr 13, 2005

At our staff meeting yesterday we were told that hand lotions can no longer be kept in our report room unless we have the corresponding information stored in our MSDS binder. Just how ridiculous are the rules and regs becoming? We have no scrub sink in our nurses' station, as it is, cannot have even a bottled water anywhere at the desk which therefore makes keeping ourselves properly hydrated a big issue and now our hand lotion is a hazardous material? The nursing shortage is being created by regs just like this because here's one more nurse who's just about had enough :angryfire

Can anyone say "Communism has made its way into healthcare at last?" :angryfire

I've worked places where they tell you what kind of lotion to NOT use, and places that forbid bottled water or any other means of hydrating oneself at the nurses station. First, we can't go potty, take breaks, or eat UNLESS "our work is caught up" orrrrrrrrrrrr.........."we find another FREE nurse to cover for us"........now we are forbidden to use handlotion or drink water on duty at the nurses station??????????????

Well........this is what I think of that:

*%&$^@!#$*%^%*##&@!!! :angryfire :angryfire :angryfire