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.
What I think is even worse is when the garbage becomes a part of the patient. When I go in to care for a patient, as a student or at work as a nurses assistant, I find that the caps off of the needles, IV lines and etc. have found their way underneath and imprinted into patient. I could run my hand smoothly across the area if I chose to. I also find used alcohol pads and wrappers underneath the patient. That is HORRIBLE! I constantly clean these things away and find that they leave the patients skin red and with deep imprints. If anything, why cant the nurses just bring a disposable chuck to place on the bed for items that need to be disposed of? Get the job done and make one trip to garbage as they are leaving the room. Is that too difficult? Ive seen them just fling them wherever as though the bed was the trash can. A mess on the floor and table is dangerous, but a mess in the bed is really disgusting in my opinion.
I believe I am more organized and think more clearly in a tidy environment. After assessments, I'll throw out all the wrappers, old drinks, balled up gloves, cruddy yaunkers, and feel much better. I'll quickly see what is in the piles of piled up linen, so I will use up what is in the room first.
Isolation rooms are the worst. Some nurses hoard excessive supplies that build up over time and never seem tidy.
I am very neat at work, almost compulsive. However at home, let's just say I am looking at my livingroom table and it has a few pop cans and yesterday's paper on it.
Yeah, very neat at work, but at home, i try to enjoy the time I am away from work and school (not often these days). The big thing I hate is going in to turn a pt and finding gauze, etoh wipes, syringes (no needles), or silverware under the pts! About a month ago, we actually found a set of dentures under a pt in the other bed! The biggest surprise was that the original pt was transferred 3 days prior! Thank goodness I hadn't been working those days, but I did help find the lost dentures.
Out of curiosity, what cleaning does your environmental services provide on your floor? As far as I can tell, the day shift dry mops and wet mops hallway floors, med areas, wipes counters, and does the baths for staff. I don't know if pt. rooms are wet mopped and tables cleaned and baths cleaned. I work nights...so I will ask.
When I was a medic in an Army hospital, the medics/aides wet dusted all table, nightstand and window sill surfaces. A janitor cleaned the floors and baths. If this isn't being done nowadays, maybe that is why there are so many nosocomial infections.
Ha, it's funny...I had an instructor in nursing school that fully expected us to tidy up the room...I got scolded once because there was a spoon lying on the edge of the sink that I had somehow missed, what with listening to breath sounds, making sure meds got passed on time, and bathing the patient.. But she was a good teacher, just old school.
I agree that the patient's room should be tidy though...it used to gross me out when I'd walk into the room and see the patient's urinal on the overbed table right next to the water pitcher and the cup of Jello the patient was planning to snack on later!
Specializes in SICU, EMS, Home Health, School Nursing.
Last night was one of those nights where I walked into both of my patients rooms and they looked like bombs had went off in them!? Trash overflowing, extra supplies laying all over, but totally out of needed supplies like gloves, alcohol wipes, etc. I spent quite a bit of time cleaning and reorganizing my rooms.
Where I work the rooms are not bad. The problem I have is the excess furniture that is put the rooms. Sometimes there are 7 chairs in a room that contribute to the disorganization. That drives me crazy.
I can't seem to figure how we end up with more chairs on our unit than we need. WE ARE NOT STORAGE! (I feel better)
One pt that we have is in a big room that is probably three times the size of a normal room. Hence, more space more mess. It was a mess because she was so demanding and no one wanted to stick around and deal with her. The pt was messy to top it off.
Well, I went in her room one day and found 2 different PCA bags that had some left to count and a used IM needle on the bedside. All this under a mess that I was trying to clean up. I do not care that the room was messy but that was ridiculous.
lpnstudentin2010, LPN
1,318 Posts
I appreciate nurses like you. It shows that you care about the over all health of your patients instead of just the problem at hand.
Meg