Why hide barrier creams and/or skin preps?

[topic]

Every shift there are residents that need barrier creams and/or skin preps applied to certain areas. The charge nurse can do this themselves or give the task to the CNA. I am a CNA, and the charge nurse and I decided it seems more practical for me to do it during rounds. One shift I was straightening a residents room and found a stack of labeled skin preps and creams(now dried) hidden behind a figurine. I checked the other rooms I rooms I was assigned that shift w/ residents requiring those treatments and found the same thing. These treatments can be given while repositioning, giving peri-care, during rounds...Why would someone(s) not do them and hide them? Why would someone(s) hide them instead of throwing them away? These treatments take seconds....why?

[proudnurseRN]

Not that it's right, but do you think they are hiding them so they know where to find them on their shift?

I don't know how many times I have ordered a cream from pharmacy to find it elsewhere. The places that people put these items are endless... in a drawer, bedside table, the med cart with their room # (where it should be), by our pyxis, in the closet, on the bedside table... the list goes on and on.

Just a thought....

[Forever Sunshine, ASN, RN]

Because there are lazy, dishonest people in this world and its sad to say they are in nursing too. We were trained in nursing school to put barrier creams on after the bath/shower, pericare, changing the brief, etc

What you described isn't even forgetting to do it.. its just plain laziness.

The above post bring up a good point though. Do these barrier creams look like they are being used?

[CapeCodMermaid, RN]

From a different perspective--is the barrier cream over the counter? If not then the licensed person is supposed to be doing the treatment not handing it off to the CNA. And I agree with the others...it's just laziness and sloppy work habits.

[makes needs known]

Maybe so the LOL that lives in that room doesn't find it and eat it. I once found a lady gargling with a gel topical analgesic. I didn't leave that in the room, I picked on my coworker for leaving that where she could find it.

[AlexisWilliamsCNA]

That sounds like laziness.. however, all barrier creams and other treatments and personal products should be kept in a drawer or out of sight. Would you want your butt cream lying out for the world to see?

[VivaLasViejas, ASN, RN]

Confused residents are known to go through drawers and cupboards and consume whatever they find there, even if said drawers and cupboards don't happen to be their own. This is why it's NEVER a good idea to leave any sort of ointment, cream, mouthwash or the like in areas where residents can get into them. I've always kept these individually labeled in cups and locked up in the treatment cart until the med aide or CNA has time to put them on, and then I check to make sure it's been used and the cup tossed. Just can't be too careful with those.........it's horrifying to walk into your resident's room and find her chowing down on the Calmoseptine!

[caliotter3]

Workers who are dishonest and lazy enough not to do the proper care are also lazy enough to hide the evidence instead of getting rid of it. Have seen this often. They leave the creams and pastes lying around because they don't care who finds them. If it was an item they needed for their own use on their shift, they wouldn't leave it where the other shifts can find it.

[Spritenurse1210, BSN, RN]

Do they look like they have been used? How well does your facility keep supplies stocked? I've hidden extra supplies in resident's rooms or at the nurse's station so I would have them to use if they were out of stock. does the resident look like they've been getting the barrier cream put on? how does their skin look?

I'm going to hope for the resident's sake that they were just hiding the extra supplies in the room to have later on. then again, there are a lot of lazy people out there.

[SuesquatchRN, BSN, RN]

You just made me laugh, Marla. Thanks. I needed that.

[madwife2002, BSN, RN]

OM I never thought of the old folk eating barrier cream LOL

Mind you some of the food they are given probably tastes worse!

[fuzzywuzzy, CNA]

It's true! We have to hide that stuff now because someone ate it. Now instead of being right there in plain sight they'll be way up on a shelf or something, behind a box of gloves, and it's easy to forget all about it.

It's much easier when a nurse leaves a tube of it at the CNA cart with a list of people who are supposed to get it.