[So] My hospital has banned disposable wipes...

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  1. Your opinion

    • 4
      OP is crazy, stop whining!
    • 18
      I don't have disposable wipes where I work
    • 9
      This is not common
    • 76
      That is disgusting!

107 members have participated

Maybe I'm just ignorant, and this may be an ongoing trend; however, it seems pretty skinflint-ish. They blamed the decision on the fact that B&G had to remove the wipes (which are not flushable) from the system a small #of times. I may be ignorant of plumbing systems but running a snake thru the system occasionally doesn't seem to warrant this sort of change.

The biggest issue I have is that I work in a satellite building, far enough away where we do not have access to central supply or housekeeping. It has a lot of incontinence issues.

They implemented this change without first having another system of peri-care in place. There are no separate hand towels for BM, there is no designated Washer for BM soiled linen, there is no wash basin to get the excess BM off the FACE TOWELS that we are forced to use to cleans peoples hinders. I asked if the building could just buy some flushable wipes until we get something setup and received a "ugh... I'm not sure" with no follow up so residents are forced to use the same towels on their face and butts.

There is no bleach to use in the buildings consumer-grade washing machine due to multicolor hand towels.

This seems really gross to me, anyone else or am I just a poop/face-averse weirdo

(frankly I've just been using 3 paper-towels from the dispenser in the bathrooms, wetting/ringing it out and using the peri-cleanser we have)

The problem isn't that it clogs a single toilet from time to time. These "nonflushable" wipes are clogging entire sewer systems. I work in facilities management and my hospital has had 2 floors flooded multiple times because of these wipes. I had to shut the water off to my entire building for 10 hours and call in mechanical contracters to find the the clog. They found and removed a soft ball of wipes that filled up two 50 gallon trash cans. I have had plumbers gown up and go into a pt's room to snake a clogged toilet because the nurse flushed a bunch of wipes down a toilet. Was the nurse concerned about the plumber and the cdif? No, of course not. You complain about cdif but you aren't at all concerned about half your facility getting flooded with the waste of a cdif patient? Stop being lazy and throw them in the trash can. Then wash your hands and return to work.

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If they are not flushable they can cause serious plumbing problems. But they make wipes that ARE flushable, so this is nonsense.

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Another cost cutting measure. No big surprise. Next thing you know they will use reusable briefs..

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We used washcloths at the hospitals I've worked at. Some had the wipes at a point but both stopped using thing due to cost concerns.

In definitely not buying them myself that's ludicrous. Let the patients family buy them if its that important. Sorry I'm not mother Theresa and they aren't my parents...lol sorry if that sounds mean but very few people would purchase their own special butt wiping products for work....

Here's the difference, we had commercial sanitation. They cleaned them well. Your situation sounds sketchy without bleach, that's gotta be a violation? Or health code?

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Specializes in Skilled Nursing/Rehab.

I worked at a LTC where we had wipes, but they were specifically only for incontinent patients. We could not use them to wipe anyone else's bottom - even if said bottom would be cleaner after a poop with a wipe!

We used washcloths for AM peri care, and they were all white. They were the same cloths we used for all parts of the bath. I felt pretty good about them because they always looked clean, never stained. I guess I just assumed they had been bleached and heated all to hell when they went to laundry.

I don't think there needs to be a separate washing machine for poop stained linens, but there certainly needs to be a very thorough sanitary cleaning method. If it does not include bleach, it should include SOME kind of serious cleaning chemicals to kill things like C Diff.

If management won't listen to you, I think you should go directly to a state agency and report this.

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Specializes in Acute Care Cardiac, Education, Prof Practice.
Maybe I'm just ignorant, and this may be an ongoing trend; however, it seems pretty skinflint-ish. They blamed the decision on the fact that B&G had to remove the wipes (which are not flushable) from the system a small #of times. I may be ignorant of plumbing systems but running a snake thru the system occasionally doesn't seem to warrant this sort of change.

The biggest issue I have is that I work in a satellite building, far enough away where we do not have access to central supply or housekeeping. It has a lot of incontinence issues.

They implemented this change without first having another system of peri-care in place. There are no separate hand towels for BM, there is no designated Washer for BM soiled linen, there is no wash basin to get the excess BM off the FACE TOWELS that we are forced to use to cleans peoples hinders. I asked if the building could just buy some flushable wipes until we get something setup and received a "ugh... I'm not sure" with no follow up so residents are forced to use the same towels on their face and butts.

There is no bleach to use in the buildings consumer-grade washing machine due to multicolor hand towels.

This seems really gross to me, anyone else or am I just a poop/face-averse weirdo

(frankly I've just been using 3 paper-towels from the dispenser in the bathrooms, wetting/ringing it out and using the peri-cleanser we have)

At my old hospital they banned "flushable" disposable wipes for the same reason, backed up plumbing. I didn't know until I went back for my practicum that each time they had to unclog the system for the seven floor hospital it cost $1000 dollar or more. There were bills being racked up each year of $50K or more.

It really is about cost. I told them if they put a sign up that said "It costs $1000 to unclog the pipes each time these wipes are flushed" I think they would have had more compliance and less issues. Sometimes transparency is important.

Tait

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Specializes in ICU.

We don't have wipes; we just use washcloths. They assure us that the linens are washed in something that kills everything, and they never have stains on them. Our towels and washcloths look perfectly clean and white.

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The wipes are "flushable" but they don't dissolve and they clog the pipes everytime. Toilet paper is flushable, but if you flush too much it will clog the system. Nurses at my facility are wading up about 10 of these wipes and putting them in the system and then they get upset when they have to move the pt to another room because the toilet is clogged. Plumbers refer to the wads as "softballs" and they are a real problem. I just got done spending my whole weekend off at work because of one of these softballs.....it is ridiculous. I bet the bill for these flushable wipes is going to be over $4,000 in repairs and that was just for this one occurance. Would you flush these wipes at your own house? Of course not.

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Specializes in Home Health, Case Management, OR.

Remind me to bring my own washcloth and towels when I go into labor...I do not care to wash my face with someone elses bum!

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I think you should do whatever it takes to get a patient clean, if that means using the face cloths, then do it. Your job is to protect skin, not dance around ridiculous policies. These policies are getting in the way of your job and that is not right!

I only use baby wipes on the baby patients anyway-- the big kids get washed with face cloths because it's the only way to get the job done right and keep their areas properly cleaned. Especially the ones going through puberty (yuck). I have confidence that those linens get very clean by whatever washing process is used. We use the towels/facecloths to clean up blood, vomit, etc. Whatever it takes to get the job done.

If you are not allowed to use cloths to wipe the patients, try using dry task wipes or gauze if that's the only thing they have to work with that you feel comfortable with. THey will get tired of ordering expensive gauze and may go back to ordering wipes soon!

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Remind me to bring my own washcloth and towels when I go into labor...I do not care to wash my face with someone elses bum!

One of the biggest ongoing battles my husband and I have is about this! LOL! I like my own towel, he does not care and just grabs whatever one is there. I told him, I don't like to wipe my face on the towel you may have wiped your *** on! Because our washer/dryer is not industrial like the hospital ones.

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We don't have disposable wipes at our facility. We use washcloths. I'm not sure if they are bleached but they are white (and don't ever have stains on them).

Same here. Always white and fresh smelling. I'm not a fan of using them though for the same reasons stated earlier. And they are so rough! Can't feel too good on a sensitive/red bottom :( wipes are so much easier.. only need one hand to pull em out and use, which is extremely helpful sometimes.

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