Dinner conversation question…

[focusondisney]

She retired 39 years ago

I retired 2 years ago. I’m talking about what happens now, not 39 years ago.

 

[tvguy]

I retired 2 years ago. I’m talking about what happens now, not 39 years ago.

Yes, and the article I posted is from 2016 as hospitals try and find a way to dispose of supplies that have had their sterile seal broken, but are unused and can be repurposed. So now, not 39 years ago.

 

[focusondisney]

Yes, and the article I posted is from 2016 as hospitals try and find a way to dispose of supplies that have had their sterile seal broken, but are unused and can be repurposed. So now, not 39 years ago.

And where in the article did it say anything about staff being allowed to take unused supplies home??? Like your mother did 39 years ago. What you think you know because of something your mother told you 39 years ago has no relevance to what is happening today. But of course, you know more than someone who has actual experience in the field.

 

[lilmc]

And where in the article did it say anything about staff being allowed to take unused supplies home??? Like your mother did 39 years ago. What you think you know because of something your mother told you 39 years ago has no relevance to what is happening today. But of course, you know more than someone who has actual experience in the field.

Yes, and the article I posted is from 2016 as hospitals try and find a way to dispose of supplies that have had their sterile seal broken, but are unused and can be repurposed. So now, not 39 years ago.

I don’t think he’s advocating stealing in anyway. It’s glorified dumpster diving. Items that are destined for the trash and landfills can be usefully repurposed in some meaningful way.

Surgical scrub brushes are excellent in the winter when little kids are climbing in and out of the car and griming up the plastic piece in the door frame. Granted those were fully used and going into the trash, but still a useful repurpose.

 

[princesscinderella]

I think nothing should be taboo at the dinner table if everyone is ok discussing it, the dinner table is typically one of the few times in my house where are all together as a family with our busy schedules. The OP expressed she was uncomfortable and wanted to move to a different topic and that should have been acknowledged and the topic changed.

 

[MsChristy12]

Wow, when my mom was around her friends from the hospital medical stuff was the primary topic of their conversation, no matter where they were. Nothing squeamish about it.
I have posted before, the first Christmas after my now wife and I got engaged, the first Christmas gift my soon to be wife got from her future mother in law was in a box mom brought home from work. The box said 'Mammary Implant". Mom's dish rags were surgical sponges..........basically white towels that had been opened but not used and would be thrown out, so she brought them home. She called them blood soppers. We still have some, when my mom passed 11 years ago my wife made a point of grabbing those because they do work great as dish towels.
When my mom had to tie up plants in her garden, she used IV tubing that had been opened but not used that she brought home. And I still have a cauterizer that had been opened but not used. She used to bring those home and we would break them open and take out the AA batteries inside to use. Never met a medical family that didn't do the same.

Umm I have multiple family members that were RNs for 40+ years, and they never took anything home from the hospital to use as household items! NONE!
And....How did this go from dinner topics/conversations to taking medical supplies home stock piling?

 

[NYCgrrl]

Umm I have multiple family members that were RNs for 40+ years, and they never took anything home from the hospital to use as household items! NONE!

Maybe it depends on how proactive their loss prevention programs are/were.

 

[Minnesota!]

The conversation would be totally ok with me. However, if you were uncomfortable, and asked them to change the subject, that would be rude. However, if this is when everyone is together, and there were questions about it, I can see why it was being discussed when and where it was. Important conversation to have.

Nothing is off limits at our table. Mom of a few boys, who took it as a challenge, early on, to try and gross mom out. My stomach got stronger over the years and now I "get them back" by trying to out do them

Colonoscopies are not gross, they all involve normal body functions, and conversations about them (or any important medical procedure) should not be seen as gross, inappropriate, or hidden from kids.

 

[tvguy]

Maybe it depends on how proactive their loss prevention programs are/were.

No loss. Once the sterile seal is broken, the patient is billed for it. Open a 4 pack of surgical sponges, use one, 3 get thrown out, taken home, or as noted in the article I posted, sent to a company that sterilizes them again, repackages them, and resells them to the hospitals at a reduced price.

 

[sam_gordon]

I'm trying to understand how "bad" the conversation could be. The patient is knocked out for the procedure (at least I & DW were), so can't talk about "feeling" anything. I guess the conversation could be about what was found (ulcers? diverticulitis?), maybe that's it?

 

[PollyannaMom]

No loss. Once the sterile seal is broken, the patient is billed for it. Open a 4 pack of surgical sponges, use one, 3 get thrown out, taken home, or as noted in the article I posted, sent to a company that sterilizes them again, repackages them, and resells them to the hospitals at a reduced price.

I'm all for creatively using things when they can no longer meet their intended purpose! So I'm definitely with the employees on this one.

But I hate that the patients are charged for more than they need. - Why are they packed in fours instead of individually in the first place?

 

[MsChristy12]

Maybe it depends on how proactive their loss prevention programs are/were.

Yeah it depends. I know workplaces that even if you take leftover food that's about to get thrown out, that's theft. I know of one person that got fired from it. It's sad because it's perfectly good food that's going to compost! Ugh! So wasteful!! I don't agree with it but that's their policy

 

[cabanafrau]

I'm all for creatively using things when they can no longer meet their intended purpose! So I'm definitely with the employees on this one.

But I hate that the patients are charged for more than they need. - Why are they packed in fours instead of individually in the first place?

Definitely don't need patients, or their insurance companies for that matter, being charged for unused and unnecessary items. Whenever and wherever possible all the financial resources need to be aimed directly at patient care.

It does however raise another issue that's also important -- excess packaging. It would be ideal to know the optimum package size to avoid product waste, as well as not to generate lots of excess packaging waste. Somehow I'm always taken by surprise if I walk into a market and see things like individual produce items wrapped for sale in plastic film wrap. Putting a stop to those types of practices seems like a no brainer to me. IMO the packaging industry needs a serious revamp -- and stat.

 

[cabanafrau]

I'm trying to understand how "bad" the conversation could be. The patient is knocked out for the procedure (at least I & DW were), so can't talk about "feeling" anything. I guess the conversation could be about what was found (ulcers? diverticulitis?), maybe that's it?

The patient is awake for the prep, which is part of the process. Perhaps the conversation got a bit graphic. People have different sensitivities and if yours happens to be discussed when you're trying to eat or just finished it can be unappetizing and unpleasant.

I get easily freaked out by stuff about eyes. Recently I saw a snip of some video footage with a singer with crystal-like things immediately below his lower lashes, I guess to look like tears. Sends a shiver down my spine just to type that. If I was eating with people and they were discussing some kind of eye procedure, or even just showing pics of the performer I'm talking about with the fake tears, I'd be begging to shut down that conversation and absolutely not show me the pictures. I supported a dear friend through corneal implant surgery without discussing any of the graphic details with her. I wasn't stigmatizing the importance of her eye health by not conversing about it in depth. I prayed for her, made meals for her, even took her for an aftercare appointment. I just wasn't the person to share the nitty gritty details with -- and she was fine with that, no shame or stigma.

 

[Stargazer65]

Did they have pictures to go with the conversation?

Everybody has their own gross-out limits when it comes to conversational topics. I wouldn't mind if people were talking about the procedure, or even the prep-work if the discussion was general in nature. I just don't want the prep discussed in graphic detail while I'm eating. Same with sickness. I don't mind if someone was talking about their recent stomach sickness while eating. I just don't want details about what came up.

 

[tvguy]

I'm all for creatively using things when they can no longer meet their intended purpose! So I'm definitely with the employees on this one.

But I hate that the patients are charged for more than they need. - Why are they packed in fours instead of individually in the first place?

My mom always felt a good nurse looked out for the patient's wallet as well as their health, and did not open packages unless it appeared they would be needed. The exception would be items that were required to be opened as part of a standard set up for a specific procedure, or at the request of the Surgeon. No idea whether things are packaged that way, as in 4 in a package for surgical sponges, or if that is what the hospital ordered instead of individual packs.

 

[JulieBeeRN]

No loss. Once the sterile seal is broken, the patient is billed for it. Open a 4 pack of surgical sponges, use one, 3 get thrown out, taken home, or as noted in the article I posted, sent to a company that sterilizes them again, repackages them, and resells them to the hospitals at a reduced price.

One, that article references the hospitals repurposing supplies with a third party, not letting staff take it home. I work in a hospital and it would be considered theft.

Two, we don’t bill for individual items like sponges for a surgery. It’s just one charge for the procedure. The patient doesn’t get charged more if we have to add additional items to the sterile field. We fill out a charge sheet at discharge, for any additional procedures or monitoring; not individual items like sponges, syringes, etc.

 

[Nancyg56]

I don't think the topic itself is inappropriate, although it is not one that I would bring up. I do feel that when a dining companion asks to change a subject it is good manners to do so. I am not getting hung up on the subject matter, because it seems that lately a lot of people have lost their ability to use their conversation edit button. I have asked someone multiple times to please stop the conversation, to the point that I physically turned away from them at the table. If you are asked to stop, unless there is a really good reason to continue, how hard is it to change the subject? The reason should never be because I am stuck on a thought that I just need to share and I dont care if you are not comfortable

 

[tvguy]

One, that article references the hospitals repurposing supplies with a third party, not letting staff take it home. I work in a hospital and it would be considered theft.

Two, we don’t bill for individual items like sponges for a surgery. It’s just one charge for the procedure. The patient doesn’t get charged more if we have to add additional items to the sterile field. We fill out a charge sheet at discharge, for any additional procedures or monitoring; not individual items like sponges, syringes, etc.

How is it theft if it has been paid for, whether "a la carte" or as an included item for a procedure? Again, I am speaking ONLY of items whose sterile seal has been broken. This is not packages of usable supplies that are still sealed walking out the door. It is items that would go into the trash, probably as hazardous waste, which costs the hospital more to dispose of.

 

[JulieBeeRN]

I don't think the topic itself is inappropriate, although it is not one that I would bring up. I do feel that when a dining companion asks to change a subject it is good manners to do so. I am not getting hung up on the subject matter, because it seems that lately a lot of people have lost their ability to use their conversation edit button. I have asked someone multiple times to please stop the conversation, to the point that I physically turned away from them at the table. If you are asked to stop, unless there is a really good reason to continue, how hard is it to change the subject? The reason should never be because I am stuck on a thought that I just need to share and I dont care if you are not comfortable

I agree. There’s always a time & place to discuss things, but it’s also respectful to change the subject when someone specifically asks you to so.