Time for a fun thread! Share you this does not make sense but happens anyway - at your hosptial.
I'll start. At my hospital, as an RN:
I can have full access to all kinds of drugs and narcotics, but I can't have access to the extra toilet paper. If a patient runs out for some reason, i have to track down housekeeping to get another roll. I can't be trusted to access extra toilet paper. (and trust me, I have NO desire to take home your one ply, sand paper toilet paper)
I also cannot have access to the paper-towel key. So if the paper towel dispenser jams ( as it often does) I again have to track down environmental services people to open it up and fix it. Because I can't be trusted with the key.
The enviromental services people are not expected to pick up extra heavy linen bags we have to make sure we don't overload the bags - yet - as a nurse, I am expected to move pts who weight 200, 300 lbs. Much more than an over-filled linen bag. Yes, we shouldn't overfill linen bags I support that, but how come no one supports me when I say that we should not be expected to move a 300 lb pt.
If anything is broken - its my job to either a) fix it or b) find someone to fix it. This includes: TVs, heating/cooling, beds, wheelchairs, toilets, sinks, computers, chairs,telephones, the cable TV, roommates snoring, and possibly the colour of the walls in the room.
As a nursing assistant I can swipe access to the drug room, blood bank, morgue etc- but not the cleaning cupboard or biscuit cupboard.
The nurses can do all kinds of invasive procedures, but nursing staff are not allowed to cut toenails, we have to refer to the foot care team. Seriously. (I think maybe this rule was started by nurses who didn't want to cut gross, yellow, curling toenails...)
I thought the toenail thing was universal? I remember learning about it in school and I work peds and we still don't cut their nails, have to get mom/dad to bring in nail clippers to do it.
We aren't allowed to keep pt stickers in the room (HIPAA violation), yet every IV bag we hang has to have a pt sticker on it; the hourly rounding sheets have pt stickers on them; plus, if you're visiting the pt, isn't it likely that you know their name, and if you don't know their DOB/DOA, that you could find that out very easily?? *grumble*
And with the number of total-care, bedbound pts, why is it that we are barely able to scrounge up ONE pillow for the pt's head, forget about ever finding any extras for arms or legs!! Forces one to become very creative when it comes to pressure ulcer prevention!
LOL bolded ...kudo wasn't enough ........:)
Also, because there are no pillows, there are no blankets; they're all wadded up in pillowcases as makeshift pillows. That little trick has served me well though for air travel. I pack a pillowcase in my carry-on and then stuff my coat and whatever else in it for a pretty decent full size pillow.
One benefit with psych nursing is that my key opens most doors. I can actually get toilet paper, hand sanitizer refill and Virex spray.....be very afraid :)
One benefit with psych nursing is that my key opens most doors. I can actually get toilet paper, hand sanitizer refill and Virex spray.....be very afraid :)
As a charge nurse, I have a key to the bio hazard boxes...I guard it zealously.
At my ltc job, had an outbreak of cdiff right at survey time and we had some related infection control tags. Also had a related pt dignity tag because outside of isolation rooms we had a regular, same as what's used in the room bedside chest of drawers, in which we kept ppd to be applied before entering the room. Dignity issue because other res could pick out who was infected by who had the chest of drawers outside the room. Intervention, moving the drawers inside the room, so you have to enter the room and apply the ppd. The intervention for the infection control problem? All res in contact precautions for cdiff must apply a bright yellow ppd gown anytime they leave the room, for therapy, to the dining room, etc. Even A &O, continent, ADLs per self Residents. But not gloves. Because that would be a dignity issue. And it's not like cdiff is spread by hand to surface contact.
Specializes in Medsurg/ICU, Mental Health, Home Health.
And though I work on a neuro/stroke unit, I am not allowed to thicken patient drinks, because I might screw up the directions and provide a patient with the wrong consistency fluid!
So who does it? Is there an on-call beverage thickening technician for emergencies on nights?
umcRN, BSN, RN
867 Posts
I thought the toenail thing was universal? I remember learning about it in school and I work peds and we still don't cut their nails, have to get mom/dad to bring in nail clippers to do it.