Processing in soiled/ dirty utility room

TheCommuter, BSN, RN · Feb 19, 2012

I've only been a nurse for six years, but every facility where I've ever been employed utilizes the disposable plastic bedpans that we simply discard when the patient discharges. By the way, I am in Texas.

safety_nurse · Feb 19, 2012

Thanks for your fast reply - isn't it pretty disgusting though to walk along the hallway with a contaminated bedpan? Besides the tons of waste being produced. I'm wondering if an alternative method could be applied? I know this is a really sensitive topic, but I would really appreciate some feedback because unfortunately my best friend died out of the blue due to a healthcare acquired infection caused from antibiotics-resistant bacteria that would naturally come from the human gut and are mostly transmitted through bacteria on bedpans.

TheCommuter, BSN, RN · Feb 19, 2012

isn't it pretty disgusting though to walk along the hallway with a contaminated bedpan?

We do not walk down the halls with contaminated bedpans. Each patient room has a bathroom where their personal bedpan remains throughout the duration of their stay at the facility. If they need the bedpan, we simply take a few steps into the bathroom, grab the bedpan, and put it under their buttocks.

safety_nurse · Feb 19, 2012

What a great role model - in California it's quite different. Though, how would you clean and disinfect the bedpan after each use? Manually? And where? Do you empty the bedpan in the patient's toilet and then clean it manually? And what disinfectant do you use?

dishes, BSN, RN · Feb 19, 2012

Sorry to hear about your friend. I have worked in facilities with automatic bedpan washers and facilities with hoppers and facilities with macerators, but do not have a preference for any one system over the other.

There are images of a hopper and a macerator in the links below

http://www.ricn.on.ca/photos/custom/ESCICNfiles/The Art of Pan Handling.pdfSluicemaster

bedpan macerator product range: Classic+, Panaway and SOLO for the efficient disposal of pulp medical items.

safety_nurse · Feb 19, 2012

Thank you for the link - when comparing the macerators with the automatic bedpan washers which one do you consider to be more promising in terms of healthcare acquired infection prevention? And which one better in terms of the nurses' workflow and time pressure?

dishes, BSN, RN · Feb 19, 2012

Just so you know, it has been more than 25 years since I used an automatic bedpan washer, but if my memory serves me correct, I used the automatic bedpan washer in the dirty utility room and waited for the washer to finish the cycle so I could return the bedpan to the patient's room and the wait time was additional time and pressure in my day. with the macerator, also located in a dirty utility room, I loaded the bedpan or urinal closed the lid, pushed the button and walked away, if the macerator did not fail and need to be rebooted (which happened frequently). I am against the significantly greater environmental waste that occurs with the macerator.

beckster_01, BSN, RN · Feb 19, 2012

We have plastic, disposable bedpans as well. Each toilet has a sprayer attached which is what I usually use to clean them. Once it is clean I swipe it with a wet wipe. If it is particularly gross I don't bother and just throw it away.

I remember there being a discussion similar to this topic awhile ago and someone mentioned a biodegradable 'paper' bedpan. I thought it was an interesting idea...

Found it:

https://allnurses.com/general-nursing-discussion/disposable-bedpans-634033.html

dishes, BSN, RN · Feb 19, 2012

Thanks for posting the thread beckster, I missed that discussion the first time it came around. I am not a proponent of macerator systems because of the increased environmental waste but it seems like quite a few nurses are fans.

DookieMeisterRN · Feb 19, 2012

Thanks for your fast reply - isn't it pretty disgusting though to walk along the hallway with a contaminated bedpan? Besides the tons of waste being produced. I'm wondering if an alternative method could be applied? I know this is a really sensitive topic, but I would really appreciate some feedback because unfortunately my best friend died out of the blue due to a healthcare acquired infection caused from antibiotics-resistant bacteria that would naturally come from the human gut and are mostly transmitted through bacteria on bedpans.

I'm sorry for the loss of your friend.Could you share with us the name of the bacteria that caused this? I've not heard of something like this before? Thank you

Altra, BSN, RN · Feb 19, 2012

My first guess is that the OP's friend had a c.diff. infection. (OP - are you a nurse?) Though this organism can be particularly difficult to combat, I'm not sure that bedpans are a primary component of CDI outbreaks. Medically fragile patients on antibiotics are at risk for proliferation of this organism.

Infection control measures specifically targeted to CDI generally focus on PPE and proper handwashing, as alcohol-based hand sanitizers are ineffective against c.diff.