Providing hygiene care when a patient soil themselves is a given but what happens when poo appears in public areas or shared spaces?
The other day, I had a patient lose control over their bowels warning, graphic description* This patient stood up and proceeded to leave formed stools on the floor leading to the bathroom and painted all over the toilet bowl. I was told by the cleaners that there shouldn't be any visible poo before they can come in to surface clean the area. As per their union policy, they are not to be exposed to bodily fluids, etc.
So, my buddy nurse and I gowned up, double gloved and rid the area of feces using towels because as usual, all the CNA's are on break and there's only one running around for 65 acutely ill patients.
The cleaners finally came with mops and appropriate cleaning equipment to finish off while we had to get over the nooks and crannies using our feet and pick up stool while keeping an ear out for our patients who might be crashing and I wonder if this is something I can bring up to union to influence policy change. It took nearly 45 minutes to clean the place without the right equipment but should we be given mops and take on a cleaner's task when we have our own nursing responsibilities to take care off? It just didn't seem like an appropriate use of nursing time and I also would like to know if this is standard policy elsewhere?
