New Rule: No work bags allowed in ER

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At work (busy ER) while moving a coworkers bag off the counter in the nursing station, a nurse was cut by a scalpel which was in the bag. Now, my first question was, "Why did she have a scalpel in her bag?" I then wondered, "Why did he have his hand in her bag if he was moving it?" Regardless... moot points to this discussion.

The knee-jerk reaction of our ER Nursing Director was to implement a new rule effective immediately - no nursing bags on the floor. At all. We cannot put them in drawers or in cabinets. They cannot be under desks or out of sight. They cannot be on the floor at all.

I am livid. I have a myriad of resources and tools which I don't need with every single patient but I do need to be able to put my hands on not to mention educational material I keep for cardiac drips, TPA, NIHSS, eye charts, etc. There's no way all of it would fit in my pockets.

Is anyone else facing something as utterly asinine as this at work? I literally don't have time for it.

Specializes in Emergency/Trauma.

I cannot stand to be weighed down by tons of supplies so I typically keep stuff at my computer station to grab (i.e.,stethoscope). We have lots of hall patients and rarely can I find a portable pulse ox, so I keep one in my bag. I keep extra hemostats there and extra trauma shears (because inevitably another nurse or MD grabs mine and I have to go out on a search and find mission). Hair ties and tampons. Cell phone charger. A small packet of notes/tips that I've made along the way which I use occasionally and but share with new nurses often. It's not a lot of stuff, but it won't fit in my pockets. I guess I can go buy a fanny pack? :dead:

Should personal crap clog up nursing stations? No. Should we be tripping over bags or having to move them to get work done? Absolutely not. Would life be insanely easier if we were relegated to placing said bags in drawers or cabinets in the station in lieu of doing away with them totally? YES. Many days I can't make it to the bathroom for an hour or so if we're slammed and I don't just walk away. I'm certainly not going to have time to get to the breakroom, into a locker, get the info, and get back super fast. And if we're short-staffed and as busy as we've been? You can forget even walking away. I'd be willing to purchase one of the clear bags just to have my crap!

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Specializes in EMS, ED, Trauma, CEN, CPEN, TCRN.

When I was in the Army, I made great use of my cargo pockets while at work. Lol. Now that I am a civilian I buy those Dickies Gen Flex cargo scrubs that have a bazillion pockets (and I moved to a city in Georgia that seems to favor royal blue in most facilities, and I had zero royal blue). Nothing you have sounds weird to me to carry. A good friend of mine has a "nurse apron" that holds a ton of stuff. It's basically a less goofy fanny pack. :D

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Our facility is switching to these spiffy clear bags. Girls get clear handbags, guys get clear backpacks.

Why? No one knows.

I've personally come to believe that there's a small smoke-filled room where people sit around and make decisions that make no sense and then randomly implement them throughout the year. It's life. I've accepted it. Mostly.

It would make sense to the rest of humanity that the problem was a scalpel being in a bag, not the bag, but what do we know.

The big question is what kind of smoke is filling that little room?:smokin:

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Specializes in Emergency.

sidenote: I wear a fanny pack. it mostly houses pens...cause apparently I manage to lose at least 3 every shift. and post-its. I'm only slightly better than Dory at remembering something that happened 5 seconds ago.

AHAHAHAHAHA!!! If I don't chart it within 2.5 seconds, it's gone forever.

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Specializes in ED.

We aren't allowed personal bags at the nursing station. Any resources you need should be on your intranet. You shouldn't have to provide your own supplies.

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OP, have you presented your concerns to your boss? Can you put your stuff in a binder or on a clipboard? Ask where you are supposed to keep tampons, specifically.

These rules don't usually last too long. Someone will be bold and bring their bag, especially on weekends, 3-11, 11-7 when boss is off.

Is there a cabinet or drawer you can stash some stuff in for the shift? Med Room maybe? Try to bring less stuff with you.

So why did the person have a scalpel? Was it clean? Why was her bag in the way of where the other person needed to work? Is the one who got cut OK? Did the knife puncture the bag or was he reaching into the bag?

Don't you just hate petty baloney like this?

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We aren't allowed personal bags at the nursing station. Any resources you need should be on your intranet. You shouldn't have to provide your own supplies.

Some jobs don't provide pens - or they are well-hidden. Some of the stuff OP wants ready access to include her tampons, her reference material - things the job doesn't necessarily supply.

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Specializes in ED.
Some jobs don't provide pens - or they are well-hidden. Some of the stuff OP wants ready access to include her tampons, her reference material - things the job doesn't necessarily supply.

And I'm assuming there is a locker room or break room to keep those things in.

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Specializes in ER.

No work bags...just a little too oppressive for me. I have my stethoscope, phone, fan, forceps, scissors, calculator, coffee mug, papers I've printed off for reference, lunch, flashlight, chewing gum, and a clinical book for learning when its slow. I could keep most of that in my pockets, but I'd need massages weekly. The bag gets stuffed under the desk, and its a blessing to be able to grab that stuff instead of carrying it, or hiking to the locker room. The hospital does NOT provide any of it.

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Specializes in CCU, SICU, CVSICU, Precepting & Teaching.
No work bags...just a little too oppressive for me. I have my stethoscope, phone, fan, forceps, scissors, calculator, coffee mug, papers I've printed off for reference, lunch, flashlight, chewing gum, and a clinical book for learning when its slow. I could keep most of that in my pockets, but I'd need massages weekly. The bag gets stuffed under the desk, and its a blessing to be able to grab that stuff instead of carrying it, or hiking to the locker room. The hospital does NOT provide any of it.

Make yourself a clipboard with for the papers you've printed off, your scut sheet and anything else that clips handily. The book can probably be found in a Kindle format (or nook), both of which can be downloaded to your phone. Doesn't your phone have a calculator app you can use instead of the calculator? Put the phone, fan, forceps, scissors, penlight in a little pouch that clips to the clip board and leave your gum in your locker since nobody needs to look like a cow chewing her cud in front of managers and patients. Drop you stethoscope on top of the clipboard to cart it from one patient's room to the next. It should work!

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Specializes in Reproductive & Public Health.
Our facility is switching to these spiffy clear bags. Girls get clear handbags, guys get clear backpacks.

Why? No one knows.

I've personally come to believe that there's a small smoke-filled room where people sit around and make decisions that make no sense and then randomly implement them throughout the year. It's life. I've accepted it. Mostly.

It would make sense to the rest of humanity that the problem was a scalpel being in a bag, not the bag, but what do we know.

Wait. WHAT? No way do I want my coworkers to see all the things I carry in my bag. That is such a patronizing overreach.

I would never leave a personal bag in a public area like a nurses' station- too many opportunities for my stuff to disappear. We had the no phone/no drink rules at the hospital I worked at as an RN, but they were just quietly ignored.

And I do not use printed resources to guide my care, because there's just no way to verify if the information is up to date. I've always railed against no-phone policies; they are outdated and do not reflect the reality of modern medical practice; the body of information we have is so vast, and best practice guidelines change way too quickly. The human mind is not physically capable of storing all this information, and IMO all facilities should provide their staff with a service like uptodate. An external brain is critical, IMO. Students and staff should be encouraged to use their phones appropriately to assist their learning and nursing process. Sure, some people will slack off, scrolling facebook instead of doing their work. But those people will find a way to slack off, phone or no phone. If we embrace mobile technology and implement secured wireless access for internet use while at work, then it would probably be easier to catch the slackers because use could be monitored in the same way computer use is monitored and moderated.

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I carry my supplies in my pockets; that's why I wear actual scrub tops and not t-shirts. I keep my stethoscope on me so I don't have to waste time going to get it. My bag has sodas and snacks in it along with tampons, lip balm, lotions, etc.. Basically all personal stuff. There are a couple of drug books but I don't think I've ever used them.

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