Vanderbilt Medical Center to have nurses cleaning up

Published

"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

Specializes in Critical Care, ED, Cath lab, CTPAC,Trauma.
I have heard that a large hospital has done away with their Housekeeping department and now the nurses will be cleaning the rooms and doing housekeeping duties. I can't imagine having a full load, discharging a patient, find out your getting a new admit, and having to clean the room beforehand. Meanwhile down the hall one of your patients is heading south...... Anyone of hear of this? Thoughts?

Yes....there is an entire thread on this.....post merged

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Nurses need to use the power of public opinion for added weight to their resistance to this nonsense.

Show up in front of the hospital with sterile dressings in hand, and a mop. Mimic changing dressings, and emtying trash containing human waste (use the real stuff for the most impact), and have big signs explaining what the hospital has proposed.

Call the newspapers, local media, and have someone there to explain the cross contamination that would/could occur with this nonsense. Have rallies in very public places, with all of the above present to take pictures, do interviews, etc. Make sure that you have posters with the salaries and perks of the CEO, all administrators, etc.

Ask the public who they want to be responsible for the housekeeping. CEOs can mop floors and empty trash, as well as anyone. Why don't they have the executive secretaries, take over the housekeeping duties? That would make more sense.

JUST SAY NO! Don't clean the rooms, and when admissions pile up, they will get the message. Nurses have to go VERY PUBLIC ABOUT THIS, and don't forget, call NNOC STAT!

JMHO and my NY $0.02

Lindarn, RN, BSN, CCRN(ret)

Somewhere in the PACNW

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Why don't they have the executive secretaries, take over the housekeeping duties?

Why not the executives themselves? Make them earn their big bucks. And if they think it's such a trifling job that won't take away from patient care, then it shouldn't interfere with their executing (executiving?) either.

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Why not the executives themselves? Make them earn their big bucks. And if they think it's such a trifling job that won't take away from patient care, then it shouldn't interfere with their executing (executiving?) either.

I think in this case, "executing" fits. :)

Lindarn, not sure about public opinion. I mean, we've got nurses that think we're silly to complain about a little extra work. The public that thinks we're making big bucks to just fluff pillows and hand out pills?

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Specializes in Pediatrics, Emergency, Trauma.

The public that thinks we're making big bucks to just fluff pillows and hand out pills?

How about having a patients in pain or left on the toilet for hours, have the nurse come in and say "sorry, I had to clean a room for an isolation patient, we don't have housekeeping" or something like...GROSS them out...have a scenario of a nurse cleaning a room with a CLABSI or c-diff, then go into another room, and go into another patients room to take care of a deep wound, suction a patient...and the "WOULD YOU WANT THIS TO HAPPEN TO YOU OR UOUR LOVED ONE???" cue the music- duh duh DUNNNNNNNNNNN!!!!!

Show the bugs that are hard to get rid of, even with soap and water crawl around in the wound or down a trach or intimated patient...Typhoid Nurse the poo poo out of that scenario!!!

That's the way to get people to notice. :yes:

Childish, yet effective....

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Maybe the good folks at Vanderbilt believe that there are enough "nursing is a calling" types out there that they will be able to continue their current staffing levels.

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Specializes in Pediatrics, Emergency, Trauma.
Maybe the good folks at Vanderbilt believe that there are enough "nursing is a calling" types out there that they will be able to continue their current staffing levels.

I partially believe that nursing is a calling...ummmm NO THANKS!!! :no:

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I think in this case, "executing" fits. :)

I am in no way in favor of execution.

A little torture though, can go a long way.

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I am in no way in favor of execution.

A little torture though, can go a long way.

Desperate times call for desperate measures ;)

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Specializes in Oncology.
Maybe the good folks at Vanderbilt believe that there are enough "nursing is a calling" types out there that they will be able to continue their current staffing levels.

I do feel nursing is my calling...not housekeeping.

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Specializes in Med/Surg, Ortho, ASC.
Government healthcare at it's best. I'll be it 's not like that at the private pay facilities.

This country is in for a BIG SURPRISE when Obama care "Rolls out" completely

What surprise will that be?

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Specializes in Med/Surge, Psych, LTC, Home Health.

Wow. Just wow.

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