I live in the Southern California desert area - in the summer it get VERY hot here (July/August daytime temps are normally 100). I work with many people who like the unit at 75 degrees. I AM SORRY - 75 is too hot to work in and be running all over creation for 12 hours.
They complain that they are cold - think about that for a minute. It is 105 outside and they bring winter coats to work because they are "cold". Add like clockwork, these same people raise the thermostat up to 80 - 80 in the summer is bull.
"We need to go green -- save the environment - Oh PLEASE PEOPLE GET A LIFE.
START WORKING - LOG OFF FACEBOOK, GET OFF YOUR BUTT, AND HAUL IT - Then tell me your still cold!
Frankly, I like it on the cooler side around 70.
1 - I am a large guy and I would rather be cool and clean than sweaty and funky (visual - drip drip - you see my point!).
Specializes in PACU, CARDIAC ICU, TRAUMA, SICU, LTC.
Oh my. I know all about that. We've had the temperature battle at just about every single job I've had, regardless of what kind.
I was working in a manufacturing plant and this was a daily battle. We are having a meeting and when the complaints began, the supervisor (who was always sweating) told that bunch of old bitties that their a$$es weren't working hard enough if they were cold!
When I was employed in the PACU, it was always a battle with the thermostat no matter what season it was. The Engineering Department got so fed up with frequently broken thermostats; the thermostat was set @ 72 degrees and a locked box was placed over it.
Oh OP I soo feel your pain, where I work it is kept at 75-80:eek: I am a big girl and after doing about 3-4 back to back pt transports I am sweating (dripping) but could we turn down the thermostat just a little? Noooo the Charge is cold, but then again she is 5'8 and approx 115lbs of course she is cold
Specializes in CCU, SICU, CVSICU, Precepting & Teaching.
i'm on the east coast where temperatures have been hovering around 100 for days now. people in my unit still like the thermostat turned up to "summer in the phillipines" levels. (their term, not mine.) i maintain that while they can always put on more clothes if they're cold, there's a minimum to what i can take off.
My NICU is always hot as hell. Not only do they keep the thermostat jacked up, but we have a sun-facing wall of 3 large windows with blinds. Of course the numbskulls keep the shades open all day. When I get there at 7 pm, it's usually well above 80 on the thermometer, and I immediately start threatening to disrobe. Some nights, it's 5 am before the unit starts to cool off. I've just started using a box fan we have for use in keeping equipment cool.
We live in south Texas, people. Shut the frigging blinds.
ETA: Twice during the last weeks-long heat streak I've received babies at shift change who'd been under those windows all day, and who had a temp well above where we want it to be. I reported it to mgmt, but haven't yet seen it addressed. Thanks for reminding me to follow up on this.
i maintain that while they can always put on more clothes if they're cold, there's a minimum to what i can take off.
that is almost the exact line i always use. :)
the place i used to work (a newsroom, not a hospital) in had a poorly functioning heating and cooling system that would break down multiple times every year, because the owner was too cheap to replace it (this system had been in place for over 25 years and according to the longtime employees had started breaking down at the ten year mark). so it was basically as though we didn't have a heating and cooling system - we'd wear heavy coats and sometimes gloves in the office during the winter and as little as possible within the bounds of decency and professionalism in summer. i like working in cool or cold conditions, but when you can see your breath inside a building, something's gotta give! and no one looks professional after sweating in 85+*f heat for 10 hours.
i swear, when i'm done with school and out in the working world again, i may just ask during each interview whether the facility tends to run hot or cold!
I am generally cold natured but since I gave up my desk job of 12 yrs and made floor nursing my priority I understand where the OP is coming frm. On the rare occasion that I do become cold there is always an isolation gown or a jacket somewhere close by. No sense in making everyone else suffer for the sake of one person.
Try working LTC! CT has been experiencing some very high temps with humidity levels that make you feel like you have your face in pea soup and are trying to breath through it!
Now, our hallways are air conditioned, not too sure who controls that temp, but that does NOTHING when the residents (who have individual a/c & heat units in their rooms) pull up the shades to the top of the window, throw open the window and absolutely REFUSE to allow the a/c to be turned on even at the lowest setting. By them doing that, any a/c that might be cooling off the hallways and common areas, is squashed. And we all suffer. I've yet to have a co-worker complain about being cold in this place. However, when working in an office of 10 women in my area, 9 of us would be dripping sweat because ONE woman was insistant that the a/c not be turned on because she was cold! (what kills me is she was always the one to complain about hot flashes). So much for majority rules, we would turn the thermostat down a tad to cool it off, and she would get up and push it past 75!
Sad thing in my LTC wing is, most are double rooms, the people with the shades up, windows open and a/c off are in rooms with non-verbal pts. Those poor people are sweltering! But heaven forbid you try to shut the shade or at least close the window to stop the humidity from coming in. The verbal, "with" it one screams, yells and reports you to TPTB if you change anything. My question always is, why is it that the screamer gets their way, but the non-verbal one has to suffer through the oppressive heat and humidity (and they are the ones who are more medically compromised than the one who can talk etc!)
I work a rehab. wing on a LTC floor. The hallways are very slightly air conditioned (it's controlled by maintenance and I think set for 75). The rooms all have their own thermostats...I have learned really quickly who the COPD/younger male/ladies with hot flashes are who actually allow their A/C to be turned on really quick. I find an excuse to duck my head in these rooms to get a breath of breathable air then it's back to the pea soup swelter.
There is a separate thermostat for the desk area. Of course, the nurse manager is always cold. It doesn't matter that anyone who actually has to work on the floor is literally dripping in sweat within five minutes of starting work, she's cold, so the thermostat will be set on 80 or above. I HATE it, it's not just uncomfortable (although it is that, with sweat dripping down in places I didn't even know it could drip before) it's unhealthy for those of us with asthma or other respiratory issues. I am so incredibly dehydrated by the time I leave work. There have been some CNAs who seriously look on the edge of heat stroke.
I came up to the desk after the AM med pass dripping sweat, red faced, per usual the other day. The nurse manager was out so I had moved the thermostat to 70. An MD came in, sat down, and immediately started complaining about how cold it was and insisted the thermostat be turned up. ARG!
We don't have control over the heat, and I prefer that. The thermostat wars used to make me hate some of my coworkers and their complaining.
If it's really hot I bring in my own fan and chart right in front of it. I also went to occupational health when I was first hired and said I must have fluids available when I'm working...no waiting for a break.
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scoochy
375 Posts
When I was employed in the PACU, it was always a battle with the thermostat no matter what season it was. The Engineering Department got so fed up with frequently broken thermostats; the thermostat was set @ 72 degrees and a locked box was placed over it.