They locked up all the masks in security ?

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The other day at work (hospital), management came through and took EVERY BOX of masks off the floor! I asked if I could keep a few masks for my shift as one of my patients wasn’t A&O and kept hacking in my face during peri care, med pass, etc. so I’ve been wearing a mask In the room and she said no! Only for CONFIRMED droplet protection patients. ?

I don’t know about you guys, but sometimes if a patient is sneezing and coughing I will wear a mask when I go in the room. ?‍♀️

Anyone else have the same thing going on?

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On 3/2/2020 at 11:58 AM, RegisterednurseRIRN said:

I don’t know about you guys, but sometimes if a patient is sneezing and coughing I will wear a mask when I go in the room.

Anyone else have the same thing going on?

No, and this wouldn't be tolerated where I work. If the MD won't order appropriate isolation for a patient the RN can.

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34 minutes ago, chare said:

No, and this wouldn't be tolerated where I work. If the MD won't order appropriate isolation for a patient the RN can.

You wouldn’t be permitted to wear a mask in a room unless it’s an iso room?

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5 minutes ago, RegisterednurseRIRN said:

You wouldn’t be permitted to wear a mask in a room unless it’s an iso room?

Correct. Due to the shortage if the patient is not on isolation we are not allowed to wear PPE in the room. This is why we have the ability to place appropriate isolation orders.

ETA: As for your facility placing the masks in security, this is just asinine. What are you expected to do if a patient on isolation is admitted, and security isn't readily available?

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Interesting! Is that new with this shortage? We’re always permitted to wear a mask if we feel under the weather or if a patient is Coughing or we just feel gross in general. They were on every patient door throughout the hospital. ?‍♀️
We will not isolate unless it’s positive for flu or any other illness.

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https://allnurses.com/coronavirus-supply-shortages-t715755/

https://allnurses.com/coronavirus-mask-shortage-t715915/

I think the idea behind locking masks up is to prevent patients from swiping entire handfuls of them when they're sitting out unprotected. There's such a huge shortage right now that hospitals are prioritizing them for the areas where they're needed most.

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Specializes in Critical Care; Cardiac; Professional Development.

I am seeing people taking handfuls of them from the flu stations at the doors and elevators.

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Specializes in OB.
Quote

https://allnurses.com/coronavirus-supply-shortages-t715755/

https://allnurses.com/coronavirus-mask-shortage-t715915/

I think the idea behind locking masks up is to prevent patients from swiping entire handfuls of them when they're sitting out unprotected. There's such a huge shortage right now that hospitals are prioritizing them for the areas where they're needed most.

I'm guessing that's the reason as well. People are about to get end-of-days crazy about these masks.

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1 minute ago, LibraSunCNM said:

I'm guessing that's the reason as well. People are about to get end-of-days crazy about these masks.

Yeah, we've talked about this pretty extensively on the "Supply Shortages" forum, but the absolute dumbest part to me is that the CDC and WHO don't even recommend surgical masks as protection for the general public. When people steal those masks, they gain zero protection, but make it so that healthcare workers can't do our jobs. It makes my blood boil.

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Good points!
I just feel like if they were locking them up only to prevent people from taking them, then when I asked for 2 or 3 to complete my shift they would have given them to me. ?‍♀️
Or we would lock them up in an Area accessible to us. ?

I work in a place with a high indigent population and high elderly who spit cough sneeze right in your face and don’t even realize what they are doing. Sometimes face masks are just necessary without a positive flu/RSV/etc test ??‍♀️

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Specializes in Critical Care; Cardiac; Professional Development.
31 minutes ago, RegisterednurseRIRN said:

Good points!
I just feel like if they were locking them up only to prevent people from taking them, then when I asked for 2 or 3 to complete my shift they would have given them to me. ?‍♀️
Or we would lock them up in an Area accessible to us. ?

I work in a place with a high indigent population and high elderly who spit cough sneeze right in your face and don’t even realize what they are doing. Sometimes face masks are just necessary without a positive flu/RSV/etc test ??‍♀️

Do you have a way to escalate this? Safety post/incident report if nothing else?

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1 hour ago, adventure_rn said:

When people steal those masks, they gain zero protection, but make it so that healthcare workers can't do our jobs. It makes my blood boil.

The public should be given (only) appropriate rationales about masks and the mask situation, immediately.

Tweets from officials that begin with "Seriously, people..." don't even sound like well-prepared, well-informed statements that anyone should listen to. It sounds sarcastic and insulting and will encourage people to question the motives of the request--simply by the way it is delivered. Then they are more likely to buy, take, or steal whatever masks they can get their hands on and we can despair all the more.

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