Friday, May 8, 2009

Garbage, Garbage Everywhere

At a recent patient visit at a Long Island hospital immediately upon entering his room, I saw garbage on the floor all around the garbage pail. The room was messy and the patient disheveled. I was a bit taken back and thought that maybe it was early, but his lunch tray had already arrived.

If this patient was cleaned up for the day and was going to have his lunch, than maybe the nurses and aids are overworked and have a large case load of patients.

I looked in a few other rooms and also saw the garbage pail overflowing and papers on the floor. It wasn’t the first time I saw this. One time I wrote to the hospital about the condition of the patient’s room. But that was on a Sunday. This wasn’t a weekend and I had to wonder why the custodial staff were so backed up. I have seen this more than these two times. This had to be a “safety” issue but obviously wasn’t on the top of anyone’s list.

Then I began to wonder to myself, why is it the custodial staff. Why can’t everyone just get the garbage into the pail or pick it up if they miss?

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