Additional Duties As Assigned....

I know you've all heard this saying. "Addtional duties as assigned" is in many job descriptions. Tell me about those addtional duties. In one hospital the nurses drew all labs and carried them down to lab. In the hospital I work in now, we (nurses) are not only expected to strip the room when a patient goes home but we have to clean the equipment, IV pumps, syringe pumps, feeding pumps. I think this is a horrible use of a nurse. Housekeeping is in the room to clean, why can't they wipe down a pump? Whatever happened to CS (central sterile) and properly cleaning equipment between patients. I know what happened they all but eliminated this department, but we have two highly paid "managerial people" attending meetings all day. We have a job jar, yes this is no joke. So in addtion to seeing 6 patients a day, I have to pick a job and do that too. Sometimes it's restocking the nutrition room, med room, emptying the HIPAA bins. Don't get me wrong I don't mind helping out the unit but it irritates me to see so many administrators getting coffee while I run for 12-14 hours. Tell me your addtional duties as assigned...
I do not like the idea although it is practical, probably because I have always taken the initiative to do things that needed to be done. I would resent being told I had to do something as if I was too lazy to do it on my own.

Where are the "unlicensed assistive personnel" or nurses aides or whatever they're called in your area? That would be a much more cost-effective way of getting tasks done that do not require the education/training/licensure of an RN! Seems like mgmt would be all over that.

A JOB JAR? Good grief!In most places, pumps of all kinds were sent back to Supply for cleaning and maintainence. I wouldn't want housekeepers to touch those.That being said, I lost my last really good job because I spoke up at a meeting in protest of another 'additional duty as assigned'.Sometimes the admins get rid of lower-level personnel and then get the higher paid ones to incorporate all those duties into what they were already doing. Makes no sense in the long-run. A JOB JAR??? Oy vey, what's next?

Oh good lord, what next? I understand trying to contain costs in a bad economy, but making your nurses serve as your cleaning crew is just plain stupid on about a dozen different levels!If it makes you feel any better, the last place I worked as a journalist was mismanaged into the ground. The management cut the cleaning crew and tried to force the reporters to take turns cleaning the bathrooms under the "additional duties as required" clause!!! We refused and it turned into one of the grossest standoffs ever!

Quote from mammac5Where are the "unlicensed assistive personnel" or nurses aides or whatever they're called in your area?

Sorry if I came across as implying that the CNAs didn't have enough work to do; I really did not mean to say that at all. I know they're overworked. My point is that, if we are going to pay someone to strip and clean rooms, clean pumps/machines, etc., we should hire MORE of people who are unlicensed to do those things, whether we call them housekeeping, CNAs, unit clerks, or whatever...these jobs do not require degrees and licensure and it seems like a shame to pay higher salaried folks to do them.

"Additional Duties as Assigned"...........This is to cover the Employer so that they can add as many job duties to employees as they please.....many times this is done to force employees to quit by setting them up for failure....seen this happen many times!!

I am not sure why so many nurses seem to be against unions but this is a perfect example of why they are needed. As one poster mentioned they were fired when they spoke up. If there had been a union this would not have been the case. The nurse could have simply told her BA and the BA would have approached the facility and said they do not feel these duties are in contract and the facility would not have known where the complaint came from. When there isn’t a union no one wants to be the one to speak up and take the heat.

sometimes nurses have done this to one another. If a facility has a budget and the highest paid staff is also the staff you cannot do without, then eliminate the lower paid staff and let the higher paid ones pick up extra duties. Believe me, I think we all deserve good pay, but facilities look at us as expensive employees and will cut elsewhere to save $