Throw it on the floor?!

[justme01]

Do the CNA's at your facility throw everything on the floor even though they know it is not the proper procedure? I hate doing that! I'd like to put everything in trash bags and take the bags to the hopper like I should.

I hate carrying soiled linens and dirty briefs down the hall. If I carry the dirty things down the hall in my hands I have to wear my gloves (which should not be worn in the hall.) I think I should just tie two trash bags onto the bed whenever I enter a room and then take the bags with me whenever I leave the room.

Do you throw everything on the floor or use bags?

[CoffeemateCNA]

It just depends on the day for me.

If I'm extremely busy, I'm a lot less likely to bag things up like I should. I just carry the linens out of the room and make a mad dash for the dirty utility room.

I almost always bag the wash rags and anything soaked with urine/BM. They never touch the floor. That's just common sense. But if it's a dry and "clean" sheet or bedspread, I usually don't waste the big trash bag for it (we have a limited number). Sometimes I may set it on the floor before taking it out of the room.

Whenever I put people to bed, I bring the big laundry bin and trash can down my hall to at least minimize the time the dirty linens are "exposed to the environment."

I use one glove to carry dirty trash bags to the dirty utility room. I never touch trash bags with my bare hands. Things with poop and pee just got tossed into them, and I don't want to risk any "surprises."

It's not the ideal way to do things, I know. :)

As soon as management gives us a staffing ratio of 5:1 or less, I'll be happy to faithfully follow every state regulation. My favorite smiley ----->

[CT Pixie, BSN, RN]

The CNA's at my facility put all linens in one plastic bag and the "disposable" items in another. They leave the dirty linens/trash container outside the room they are in (each CNA has their own)

while they are doing a brief change or a linen change, they will bring the trash bin from the room next to the bed and put the items in it, then take the whole bag out. Its not a common occurance to find anyone doing a brief change or linen change to throw the items on the floor. Our plastic bags are a decent size. For larger items like a bedspread, they will ball it up and have it at the end of the bed and then take it out, since the dirty linen container is at the door, they don't have far to go with it.

[fuzzywuzzy, CNA]

I've thrown linens on the floor. Especially if it's a bed bath or something like that and I don't have enough hands to wrestle with a trash bag (ours are these weak little clear things that break at the drop of a hat). A lot of times then I'll lay a bedpad on the floor and toss everything on top of that. Or use a clean pillowcase as a bag. Or I'll toss the washcloths into the trash, then take the whole bag out and sort through it in the dirty room. I never carry un-bagged dirty linens (unless it's something minor like a bib or a pillowcase) out into the hall with me because I'd get in trouble.

[eveningsky339, LPN]

If it's dirty, I throw it on the floor. All the time.

I know it's not "proper" and it will certainly get you in trouble if you are caught doing it by the charge nurse, but I look at it this way: the dirty linen will be washed. Putting it on the floor doesn't make it any more "soiled" than it already is, and it saves me precious time when doing a complete bed change.

I've seen CNA's set soiled linen and even dirty briefs on top of the resident's bed, even with the resident still in bed. I hate that. I would much rather throw it on the floor than lay a urine-soaked brief or poopy draw sheet on an occupied bed!

When something is extra poopy, I roll it up and take it to the soiled utility room. Usually it's not bad enough to bag. We have lots of bags in the soiled utility room that we use after washing out the "chunks."

[LaciWright]

A trash bag is usually what I use but as someone else stated with a bed bath or something like a full bed change I tend to bring a bath blanket in with me and toss the dirty linen on top of the clean bath blanket and them wrap all the dirty things tight and set by door so I can unglove and go to the hall for a linen bin

[Poi Dog]

I have thrown linen on the floor.

[eveningsky339, LPN]

I have thrown linen on the floor.

This is turning into some sort of Linen Throwers Anonymous meeting...

"Hi, my name is Eric, and I throw linen on the floor."

But seriously, CNAs are constantly told not to do it, and yet most of the time the floor is the only valid option. I'm not about to put a diarrhea-soaked draw sheet at the foot of the bed, even a stripped one. Our infection control RN once advised us to balance dirty linens on the corner of the waste basket, though this is a tricky balancing act which often leads to the linen falling into the basket, which is just as dirty as the floor. It also poses a back safety issue because you have to stoop over and stay stooped until you successfully balance the linen.

The fact that the room is the size of a large phone booth doesn't help.

Though it goes against everything "the books" told me, I'm a firm believer in throwing dirty linens on the floor.

[fuzzywuzzy, CNA]

This is turning into some sort of Linen Throwers Anonymous meeting...

The fact that the room is the size of a large phone booth doesn't help.

Anyway, I think the point is not to get the floor dirty because then you track it everywhere on your shoes.

[Poi Dog]

This is turning into some sort of Linen Throwers Anonymous meeting...

"Hi, my name is Eric, and I throw linen on the floor."

/QUOTE]

My name is Marie and I am a linen thrower downer...

:lol2:

[eveningsky339, LPN]

Anyway, I think the point is not to get the floor dirty because then you track it everywhere on your shoes.

Shoes? I go to work barefoot...

[justme01]

Here is what I have decided. If I am dealing with BM, I will put everything in trash bags and then carry them to the hopper. That contains the mess and odor.

Now the trick is obtaining these trash bags. No one knows or is willing to tell me where the trash bags are located. I have learned to beg a roll off of housekeepers whenever I see them. I have asked the housekeepers to tell me where the bags are located so I can get them for myself but apparently that information is top secret.