Drinks at the nursing station is most definitely a heated topic. Has anyone found a solution to this issue that both nurses and management are happy with?
At the hospital i'm at, we have kind of a decent sized backroom at the nursing stations; a lot like this picture
For closed drinks; what about putting the drinks in a stackable sealed container like this?
Stackable so they can be kept neatly on the side or corner of the back room and this way the drinking bottles themselves will never come in direct contact with anything "contaminated." If management is worried about the inside of the containers becoming contaminated through communal/repeated use, the solution for that could be using the disinfection wipes before a nurse puts her/his drink in there at the start of their shift.
Specializes in Psych, Corrections, Med-Surg, Ambulatory.
an associate in a law firm, is also some one lesser ... ie, has not yet made partner.
The term "associate" is now used commonly in retail to make low-paid employees feel more valued. I always thought it was a rather insulting euphemism and glad I didn't have to put up with it.
I find it rather chilling that hospitals are jumping on this bandwagon. Are they trying to blur the distinctions between employee groups so the public doesn't realize how few nurses there actually are? Or is it seen as more egalitarian when doctors and housekeepers have the same title?
"Hi, I'm Tricia. This is my associate and this is my other associate!"
At my former employer drinks (even closed bottles of water) were forbidden in pt areas. I had to get a note from my OB to allow me to carry a 32-oz reusable bottle with a lid because I suffered from hyperemesis and dehydrated very quickly; even with that note I still had to hide it in a lower cabinet (try getting something out of a lower cabinet while 9 months pregnant). At my current employer we can have closed bottles of water with lids but my clinical supervisor, who is a surgical tech, has at any given time, 1-2 partial cups (no lid) of coffee, 2 open Mountain Dews, and currently has a mostly-eaten mug of macaroni and cheese in her drawer--from two weeks ago. I have seen her and a MA eat full meals at the nurse's station, usually breakfast as we're getting ready for the day but still on the clock, and it drives me up the wall. A coworker came to us from the ED because she passed out from dehydration and they put in a 16g with one liter to rehydrate her and put her back on the floor. That's ridiculous.
Specializes in Flight, ER, Transport, ICU/Critical Care.
I guess it's time to reinvent the FLASK that will fit in the scrub pocket. When you get caught chugging from said flask, look horrified and burp loudly, look sheepishly and side-eye the person who "gotcha". Man will everyone be bummed to learn it was just ice water or iced coffee.
Idiot rules call for deserved solutions.
Much handwringing about what should be common sense.
The term "associate" is now used commonly in retail to make low-paid employees feel more valued. I always thought it was a rather insulting euphemism and glad I didn't have to put up with it.
I find it rather chilling that hospitals are jumping on this bandwagon. Are they trying to blur the distinctions between employee groups so the public doesn't realize how few nurses there actually are? Or is it seen as more egalitarian when doctors and housekeepers have the same title?
"Hi, I'm Tricia. This is my associate and this is my other associate!"
Hospital administrators just want to make us feel valued!!
I think the term is called 'up title-ing' where someone who was formerly a maintenance man is now a building engineer or something (that's not to be elitist and look down on anyone, but I'm just making an analogy).
We keep them sitting out at the nursing stations, they just need to be covered drinks (coffee cups with lids, bottles with tops), the Joint Commission and department of health have both been fine with this. Their rule is that staff cannot have food or drinks in "patient care areas". The nursing station is not a patient care area unless you are bringing patients out of their rooms and to the nurse's station for procedures, to give meds, etc.
The management in my facility also sees it this way. Have had no problems whatsoever with having a closed-lid drink or food at the workstations, night or day shifts.
TriciaJ, RN
4,328 Posts
Uh, no. But the serving staff wear them in the nicer restaurants. And my coffee is always hot.