Should Nurses have to clean patients rooms after a patient dies or is discharged??

NOADLS · Oct 22, 2015

Yes it is legal, but you would have to do as thorough a job as the housekeeper would.

This is really a task for a CNA or housekeeper.

BittyBabyGrower, MSN, RN · Oct 22, 2015

If we need the spot and can do it

faster than waiting for housekeeping, then yes we do it. Only time we can't do it is if it needs a total wash down due to certain isolations. We don't have CNAs on a lot of our floors.

mmc51264, BSN, MSN, RN · Oct 22, 2015

We have to strip the room of everything, throw all garbage away, but we have not been trained on how to properly disinfect the rooms/beds. It more than mopping the floor and cleaning the toilet. I watched one of our EVS people clean a bed and I was amazed at all the crevices they clean in.

Guest219794 · Oct 22, 2015

I work for an Impatient Hospice Facility. Currently they cut down on housekeepers and because of the fast turnovers of patients, we nurses are required to clean the patient's room so we can quickly get an admission. Is this legal? I would like to know if anyone else has been required to do this... We are all frustrated but we can't afford to lose our jobs.
Thanks!!

Of course it's legal- What possible law could it violate?

I think the problem is well summed up in your first sentence. You work for an impatient facility. If they were patient, they would wait for housecleaning to do what they are trained to do, and allow you to use your training maximize benefit to your patents.

Farawyn · Oct 22, 2015

I have.

Galendria · Oct 22, 2015

Like a previous poster, my facility asks us to strip the linen off the bed, and remove all tubing/suction/containers with bodily fluid in them after a patient is discharged. Housekeeping then comes in and deep cleans the room/bathroom, removes trash/linen, and sets up the room for the next patient with a made bed and clean linen. Yes what they are asking you to do is "legal", but I wonder if they are providing you with the proper supplies to clean the room like it should be done. Do you have mops, appropriate spray, cleaning cloths, supplies to clean the bathroom, etc? It seems like a *very* excessive job for a nurse and takes a significant amount of time away from providing patient care.

Karou · Oct 22, 2015

It's legal but ridiculous. Prime example of forcing nurses to take on more tasks and stretch nurses further without any additional compensation.

If you haven't had training in disinfecting/cleaning a room, then that's also a huge concern. If they are serious about making you do this, then demand the proper training and payment for that training. It will probably take nursing staff 2-3x as long to clean a room since they aren't used to it. Stupid idea.

BumbleBuddy · Oct 25, 2015

I'm just going say that yes, they can make you do it, but if they're gonna make ME do it then I want the housekeeping pay on top of my nursing pay. :saint:

TheCommuter, BSN, RN · Oct 25, 2015

Is this legal?
Thanks!!

It is perfectly legal for a company to require nursing staff to clean rooms, empty trash cans, pass meal trays, file paperwork, and perform 'catch-all' duties.

However, it is not ideal by any stretch of the imagination.

OnlinePersona, LPN · Oct 25, 2015

Legal?????? You don't need some fancy degree to clean, the housekeeping department don't have one. Your more trained in microbes and germ involvement than them if you want to be factual.

I clean rooms myself when the housekeeping staff isn't available.

momof3lv · Oct 25, 2015

We use to clean the rooms in the ER between each pt. that's the only time I have done it. At my last hospital nursing was responsible for taking out the linens and trash every night but I work at a sister hospital now and we don't do that anymore. I can tell you they don't want me cleaning a room. My housekeeping skills are horrible and it would probably take me three times as long.