More annonymous tip line fun

[jedimaster91]

I mentioned <hospital's> annonymous tip line awhile ago and how it made me want to bang my head against the wall. The latest edition seems to have topped it. Apparently there have been instances of nursing staff ending up needing treatment for dehydration because they can't have waterbottles on the floor (OSHA rules) and don't have time to go to the break room to get a drink. You nurses on the board will understand exactly the problem.

The "advice" from coorperate is for the nurses to talk to their managers about making sure they get breaks. Which is all well and good. But exactly when are they meant to have a sit-down with a manager? If there's not even time during a 12-hr shift for them to get a drink of water, what makes them think nurses can have a meeting? Seems to me the first step would be to, I dunno, hire more staff to alleviate the workload. But that would make sense and that's not allowed. It also would cost money and we can't be spending any money, now, can we?

I wasn't sure whether to laugh or strangle something.

[kpzra]

We used to have nurses in the ER stash their water bottles in the Medic room at all the hospitals. They just weren't allowed to eat the food that was stocked there for us, but they could use the fridge.

[Sapphire Silk]

It's a problem where I work, too. Plus, nurses are at higher risk for UTI's because they hold their bladders too long (urinary stasis).

It's all we can do to get our lunch break. I ended up leaving my last ER job in part over an ongoing dispute with my manager over breaks. "Make sure the managers get us our breaks?" Ha! That's a bad joke.

It took legislation in California to address the problem. It'll be years before it filters to the rest of the country.

[Food Lady]

Can I ask why OSHA doesn't allow water bottles on floor? I know in retail it isn't an OSHA thing, just managenent's perception that it looks unprofessional. Maybe in a medical setting it has to do with germs on the bottles? At any rate, you can't have dehydrated nurses; that's an OSHA violation. And yes, all the nurses I know can relate to this.

[jedimaster91]

It has to do with infection control. Food, drink, smoking, and cosmetics are not allowed in areas where there is a significant risk of coming into contact with infectious agents. It's also the reason we have to have separate staff and patient refridgerators and can't stash a coke in the same fridge where biohazards (like blood samples) are stored.