Tidying up the patient's room is important!

[FireStarterRN]

I've noticed that some nurses make no effort at tidying the patient's room. I just think it's nice not to leave half opened stuff strewn all over, old newspapers, wadded up tape, full bedside bags, alcohol swab wrappers, dirty bath blankets in a heap, assorted linens, emesis basins filled with thick green sputum,

I don't like walking into a disaster zone when I come on, particularly after what sounds like a not too bad of shift. I also notice that sometimes the nurses station will look like a pigsty. I'll see the same book left out on the counter for days, left unclaimed. People leave undrunk drinks and leave celebrity magazines everywhere.

Thanks for listening.

[FireStarterRN, BSN, RN]

Why wouldn't a nurse not feel like cleaning up something in a patient room left behind by another healthcare provider? That seems very odd to me.

[NurseyBaby'05, BSN, RN]

The same reason I wouldn't feel like cleaning up after any other able-bodied adult: I'm a nurse, not a personal maid. Usually it's all I can do to keep my own head afloat, much less pick-up someone else's slack all the time.

[FireStarterRN, BSN, RN]

Uh, it's the patient's room, not the other nurses. You are trying to make the patient feel better. It makes the patient feel better to have their room tidy, plus it makes the room more presentable for visitors.

[Virgo_RN, BSN, RN]

As an aide, tidying up was something I did on first rounds, midway through the shift, and on last rounds. When I started nursing, learning the job was so overwhelming that I just couldn't spend the time doing this. Now that I'm a little over six months in, I'm starting to get my feet under me again and can start to tidy up once in a while. But I always take care of my own trash, unless I'm in big hurry and forget. And yes, I am a neat freak at home.

[NurseyBaby'05, BSN, RN]

Uh, it's the patient's room, not the other nurses. You are trying to make the patient feel better. It makes the patient feel better to have their room tidy, plus it makes the room more presentable for visitors.

I am aware it is the patient's room and certainly would like him to feel better. However, am I to say "Sorry, Mrs. Jones, I know you're SOB, but Mr. Smith won't "feel better" until I clean-up a mess someone else made in his room." I am "run-my-a-- off" busy every shift cleaning-up medical issues that more often than not weren't addressed by the previous nurse. Or else, the pt's are just that critically ill that a tray left on the table is the least of my worries. I'd say it's far more important to do that kind of cleaning-up than emptying waste baskets and removing trays. If I want to worry about how "tidy" the room looks for "visitors" instead of my patients' medical needs, then I'll go work for Press-Gainey, thank you very much!:icon_roll

[leslie :-D]

heck, not only do i clean up, i clean the bedside table w/either alcohol or pericleaner!

i really do think a clean environment is conducive to a pt's well being.

leslie

[FireStarterRN, BSN, RN]

heck, not only do i clean up, i clean the bedside table w/either alcohol or pericleaner!

i really do think a clean environment is conducive to a pt's well being.

leslie

Thanks for caring! :redbeathe:heartbeat:redpinkhe I would want you to be my nurse Leslie!

[lpnstudentin2010, LPN]

Thanks for caring! :redbeathe:heartbeat:redpinkhe I would want you to be my nurse Leslie!

I agree.

[leslie :-D]

thank you both, jls and meg...

but to me, it's not just the 'visual' mess.

i just think of all those nasty germs brewing in the pt's immediate environment.

it really is a health issue...

and why wouldn't we want to keep our pts in the cleanest environment possible???

leslie

[locolorenzo22, BSN, RN]

That's a good question......

I'm a tech, and part of our duties include emptying trash and picking up crud around the room....Personally, I can't STAND when I come on and trash is overflowing out of the bins. I often take care of the trash during my 9-11pm rounds, when patients are still realitively awake, then I don't have to make a bunch of noise at 3am when i get vitals. I don't empty trashes with 2 pairs of gloves, and a piece of paper in em, but the ones that are overflowing, or that have new IV trash in em are fair game.

Although, this often goes both ways....I once had a nurse come out of a patients room, hunt me down, and tell me that the room was a sty.....the culprit? A single juice container on the bedside table. NM that the patient had finally gotten to sleep, no more pain issues, and the nurse saw the juice container there..........sometimes I refuse to do what a nurse could do themselves at 4AM.

[Valerie Salva, BSN, RN]

I tidy up my pts' rooms and the nurses' station q shift.

I don't know why some pts are reluctant to part with ten or twelve hours old milk from brkfst.

I use alcohol gel to remove juice rings from the bedside table, as it's all I have access to on nocs.

It drives me crazy when staff leave half empty cups of coffee at the nurses' station. Throw them away, people!

I spoke to a janitor, and he gave me my own box of small garbage bags. (No housekeeping on nocs). My absolute pet-peeve is when I go to throw something away in a pt's room, and there is no bag in the trash can.

I take bags with me and refill cans as needed on my incontinance rounds or when I do my V/S. (RNs do incontinance rounds and get their own vitals where I recently worked).

[nrsang97, BSN, RN]

I keep my rooms clean too. But my house is another story in itself. I am in the same boat as Elizabells.

We have wipes for bedside tables and countertops. I try to keep the counters clean and the room organized since it makes things easier in the long run. If I am busy the room may be messy through the night but I will make the room clean before 7am. I spent at least 2 hours straightneing lines and wires last night and still felt like a disorganized mess. I hate when my lines are a disaster. I hate when lines are cris crossed across the bed and lines tangled.