Vanderbilt Medical Center to have nurses cleaning up

[DidiRN]

"Cleaning the room after the case, including pulling your trash and mopping the floor, are all infection-prevention strategies. And it's all nursing, and it's all surgical tech. You may not believe that, but even Florence Nightingale knew that was true," said a hospital administrator to staff in a video obtained by the Channel 4 I-Team."

http://www.wsmv.com/story/23364976/vanderbilt-medical-center-to-have-nurses-cleaning-up

[SwansonRN]

I just threw up

[Mommy&RN, BSN, RN]

I bet they don't decrease the staffing ratios either.

Sent from my iPhone using allnurses.com

They did a mass layoff of employees on their "employee improvement plan" a few months ago. So, no I don't think ratios will get better.

There are 5 hospitals within a 5 mile radius, and there have been times it has taken many days to transfer someone over there, because of no available beds, for services not offered at the other facilities.

[imintrouble, BSN, RN]

I've never been a "that's not my job" kind of nurse. Being busy makes the night go faster. If that means I do a little housekeeping, that works for me.

I just don't want it added to the list of what I'm already responsible for, so the hospital can cut jobs and save money.

We rarely have CNAs anymore. Nurses are expected to perform primary care on up to 5-6 pts.

I guess it's not too hard to believe that cutting housekeeping staff is on the horizon.

[beckster_01, BSN, RN]

I'd be extremely interested in hearing some input from se Nashville nurses. I don't understand this from a cost-benefit perspective. Laying housekeeping responsibilities on an already over-taxed nursing staff only makes sense if you hire more nurses. And of course, nurses cost more than hiring cleaning staff in terms of the amount of training required.

If they don't hire more nurses than they will pay more in preventable hospital-acquired infections (especially when the same nurse who is changing a wound dressing or doing central line care just emptied the trash and turned over a c-diff room). The hospital is going to pay in all-important patient satisfaction scores, patients won't get mobilized as frequently, education won't get done. I could go on for pages. It just doesn't make sense.

[Ruas61, BSN, RN]

Oh good grief.

[mmc51264, BSN, MSN, RN]

I, too am all about doing what I can. I strip rooms of everything so all that is left is the sanitizing part. Not all nurses do that, but I do what I can to help. I wouldn't have time to go get the stuff to mop, etc.

[applewhitern, BSN, RN]

Every hospital I have worked in required that we pull the trash from patient's room at the end of our shift, and all but one required that we pull all linens (especially the bed linens) after a patient is discharged. We would have to pull all equipment used and throw away anything like IV stuff, etc., wipe down the heart monitors and other all the other equipment used, wipe and spray down the IV pumps. In other words, all housekeeping would have to do is disinfect the floors, beds, furniture, etc., and remake the bed. Occassionally, we do that, too, if we need an ICU bed quickly. I am in the habit of always wiping down my patient's bedside tables with antibac wipes, and their toilets, too. I can't stand to see them sticky or nasty. Granted, we don't always have time, but I guess I am just in the habit and can do it pretty fast. No, we don't have to do a full-scale cleaning unless we really need the room right then. We all pitch in, it doesn't have to be just an RN.

[blondy2061h, MSN, RN]

I hope they're looking forward to having CAUTI, CLABSI, fall, and pressure ulcer rates going through the roof. Good nursing ratios is the number one thing proven to help these things. I don't think it counts when nurses are playing housekeeper though, rather than triple checking their meds, looking up drugs they're not familiar with, watching cardiac monitors, or doing pre-op teaching with a nervous patient.

[CrazyGoonRN]

Vanderbilt is a magnet hospital and level 1 trauma center with a lot of respect in the community and if cleaning starts taking time away from pt care they may see satisfaction rates drop.

[Palliative Care, DNP]

Another reason I am so glad that I just left the bedside. I sure was not paid enough to do housekeeping too. Bad enough some patients already consider nurses as waitresses.

[lindarn]

Don't just say, "NO". Say, "HELL NO", and call NNOC and unionize. What are you waiting for?

JMHO and my NY $0.02

Lindarn, RN, BSN, CCRN (ret)

Somewhere in the PACNW

[Aliz79]

Wow...that's too much ??