i just thought i would throw this out here, and thought it may get a few head shakes and giggles!
so here i was at work the other day as an agency nurse at a local hospital. i had my tubex with me which i carry around for injections when a very nice nurse kindly told me that because of infection control, those tubex are one use only (they are cleaned, not thrown away).
i thanked her very much for the info, and then grabbed the cbg machine..then thought??? ummmmm if a tubex is to be used once per room...then why do we use the same cbg machine for all rooms (hello direct blood on those)...or the vs machine? i giggled a bit. guess it all comes down to cost, washing tubex is easier than washing cbg machines..lol! (i clean my cbg machine with etoh wipes after each use by habit anyway....but still...lol!).
i mean...good rule..but kinda made me giggle a bit :chuckle
what other interesting rules do your facilites have that make you go hmmmmmm???
No, that is not what we mean. Anytime you wear gloves, when you remove them you are supposed to cleanse your hands... the gloves are not a subsitute. Instead of doing a soap and water scrub after taking your gloves off, a lot of facilities are pushing alcohol based rubs, lotions, and foams. They are supposed to be gentler on the skin, and are supposed to have a longer acting antimicrobial effect.
....and I had a massive allergic reaction to both the hand cleaner and the soap they used within 3 weeks of starting work at one facility. I was allowed to bring my own hand cleaner, and I found that if I did not use the soap more than 2 or 3 times a shift and didn't work more than 2 days in a row I was *mostly* ok and only required a thorough application of cortisone cream after each shift.
JCAHO has one and only one job. TO BOLDLY CREATE AND RECREATE STANDARDS THAT THE INSTITUTION MUST ABIDE BY TO HANG A PLAQUE IN THE LOBBY. When they stop creating "silly nurse tricks", oh I mean standards, regardless of how impractical they are, they are out of a job. Now I am not JCAHO bashing. I am actually glad that someone has the unenviable job of being critical all the time, because there are some standards that are no-brainers. But some of the stuff they come up with is incredibly impractical.
JCAHO, which a number of us refer to as "that outfit that makes it impossible for us to do our jobs," has only ONE job, as I see it--to perpetuate their own existence. Therefore they must come up with increasingly ridiculous stuff in order to do so.
How many JCAHO surveyors have actually touched a real patient within living memory? And more important, would you really WANT any of them to?
I'm talking about a coke in a cup with a lid sitting beside the computer where I chart, there are germs everywhere in the hospital environment, why would a microbe pick my coke to swin in? Besides, as my mother used to tell me, coke could dissolve a nail, surely it could take care of a pathogen!!!:chuckle
Seriously, I realize that it is for the safety of the staff but it does seem alittle over the top. If I keep it in the break room, a co-worker is sure to share with me any number of germs just by saying hello.
Just my thoughts
asher315
I agree... I'm not that worried about the germs, surely they can't read the "staff only" sign to the break room anyway if I kept my drink there. We used to allow them as long as they were in covered cups, then JHACO put a stop to that. If JHACO wants to implement rules to protect our patients, great! (even if they do go overboard sometimes and get in the way of efficient safe care) But I don't think it's JHACO's job to worry if I personally want to risk a germ entering my own body and interfering with my own safety. My problem, not theirs. Besides, my safety is much more compromised when I'm dehydrated or hypoglycemic... and the headache that causes really compromises the safety of my patients!!
Great quote from a surgeon who was not happy when I told him his permit was invalid because he used a non-existant abbreviation "and Doctor, JHACO says we may not use abbreviations" "Why not?" "I don't know, they don't like them" "Then why the **** do they call themselves J.H.A.C.O.??" Hmmm
Great quote from a surgeon who was not happy when I told him his permit was invalid because he used a non-existant abbreviation "and Doctor, JHACO says we may not use abbreviations" "Why not?" "I don't know, they don't like them" "Then why the **** do they call themselves J.H.A.C.O.??" Hmmm
Hmmm
cvryder
114 Posts
....and I had a massive allergic reaction to both the hand cleaner and the soap they used within 3 weeks of starting work at one facility. I was allowed to bring my own hand cleaner, and I found that if I did not use the soap more than 2 or 3 times a shift and didn't work more than 2 days in a row I was *mostly* ok and only required a thorough application of cortisone cream after each shift.