IamA Hospital Janitor/Housekeeper, Ask Me Anything!

are you anything like the Janitor in "Scrubs"?

I always get a laugh out of this. I guess you could say I give the Doctors and Nurses insight on life. Although I don't replace lights or fix broken things like he does from time to time.

so you didn't show up on career day as Doctor Jan Itor ? this really bums me. Nevertheless i give you much respect for the hardships of your job.

I came in trying to cover up being a janitor. But they had "Janitor" written on my name tag. D:

more serious question if not answered already: can you describe your tasks, such as are you on a day/night shift? do you work in rooms, labs, OR? handle biohazardous stuff? any interesting/odd/insane stories?

I'm an on-call. But I get 40 hours a week. I tend to work evenings but I do pick up a day shift or a night shift every now and then. I've clean rooms and OR rooms. OR rooms are fun to be around, I get to watch operations going on like knee surgeries and heart surgeries. Its actually really cool.

I've handled radioactive waste and I've handled TONS of blood. Chemo I am always scared to handle but I do.

I guess I can share a story. :P

Twas my 3rd day of work. I was working a night shift. I was being trained on cleaning a heart room. We get a call to go take care of a bed bug situation. It sounded like an interesting adventure. So we ventured forth! I was pumped! We went and put on these white body suits and we felt like rabbits. We jumped around a bit and went to the bed bug room. We arrive and LO AND BEHOLD, a nurse had the bright idea of taking care of it herself. We alerted the Supervisor and she went home. She also threw the bed bugged bed sheets with the other laundry. We had to prevent an outbreak, so we had to search for it. We searched for an hour and called quits. We did know which bin it was in so we marked that bin. Labelled it as hazardous and sent it on its way. TLDR - Bed bugs, nurse was stupid, saved the day.

Could you possibly stick a penny in a door and blame it on some one

It was Thop207375. I SWEAR!

I don't actually have a question, but I just want to say from one hospital worker (who doesn't have to do clean up) to another: thank God for you and the people who do your job. I've seen the shit (literally) that you guys have to clean up, and it ain't pretty. So thanks :)

Thanks! :D

We do it for our hospital family!

Verified

WOOP WOOP! Thanks a bunch. :)

Has anyone jammed a door with a penny?

A co-worker did once. He just wanted to try it. Was not disappointed.

By coworker you mean an intern right? An intern who goes by the initials J and D. Maybe Dohn Jorian? I want this to happen.

LMAO. I want this to happen REALLY BAD. Life please.

I'm going to become a doctor and work at your hospital. You better make my life terrible or I'll be disappointed in you

I shall make your life a living hell!

Worst cleanup you've encountered?

Oh man. I can't exactly say what is worse at first sight. But the top three would be projectile vomit, massive blood spill all over the OR floor and a trail of feces from a patient going for a walk. BUT THERE ARE SO MUCH MORE!

I had a friend who did the same thing a few years back. He had two pretty gruesome experiences. The first was having to clean up a bathroom after a woman gave birth to a stillborn. The second was being there when an ambulance brought a woman in after a botched suicide attempt. She tried to shoot herself in the head and ended up shooting her jaw off. Yes, just like the South Park episode with Brittany Spears. Needless to say there was a lot of blood.

Holy crap! I've worked in the Emergency Department only a few times and the only problems I've had have been the mental patients throwing their drinks and IV all over the place. But I can't imagine that.

Please tell

Someone threw up in the sink and no one was called for a few hours. It nearly hardened and I had to scoop i tout with my hands. They barely chewed their food.

Why are the puke container so goddamn small?

No idea. Ask your nurse for a bucket.

No question, just thank you for your work.

THANKS! :) Edit: HOLY COW! Gold? Thank you kind Redditor!

Have you ever had a good relationship/bond with a dying patient?

I don't interact with patients too often. But I do get calls asking for a quick room clean or a mop job. It's always nice to have a conversation with them, they basically spill their life out. You figure out who they are and It makes this man of me want to cry. But I haven't been around a patient die. I would prefer not to see it happen.

What was the story/life that made you want to cry the most?

There was an elderly lady wanting her daughter to come visit. her daughter would come and she cried a bit. But she talked about how a wonderful woman her daughter was despite her daughter rejecting to come to her. I was saddened. :(

There was an elderly lady wanting her daughter to come visit. her daughter would come and she cried a bit. But she talked about how a wonderful woman her daughter was despite her daughter rejecting to come to her. I was saddened. :(

Wait, do you mean her daughter wouldn't come, or she would and she would cry anyway?

She wouldn't come at all. I don't know why but that event has stuck with me.

this man of me been around a patient die

My heart goes out to you. I could never handle myself if that happened to me.

How did you get that job and why did you take it?

I knew someone that worked there and they referred me. I took it because I needed another (better) job. At my last job I was being cheated on and treated like a leftover. I also wanted to get my name in at the hospital. I am trying to be a radiologist tech.

Hey im a radiology tech, good luck to you!

Thanks! Working hard to get there!

Awesome, I hope that works out for you man! (:

Thanks dude/dudette! :D

I've considered doing an IAMA hospital security guard, but quickly realized no one gives a fuck LMAO!

I DO! AMA RIGHT NOW SON!

As an ER nurse and former hospital janitor I just want to say thank you for what you do, it's a job that goes unnoticed or unappreciated much too often but what you do is vital to the function of the hospital and safety of our patients.

Thanks a ton! Nurses like you is what keeps us coming back to work!

What kind of machines do you use to clean your floors? What about floor waxing systems?

Just ask as I also happen to work as a custodian at a hospital.

Housekeepers don't really wax the floors. We have "Floor Techs" that wax the floors. They're all nice guys. But when we mop we use Virex and a neutral cleaner. But most of the time we use Virex to mop the floors.

I've heard that the heavy use of disinfectants is causing new strains of "super-bacteria". Is that a concern where you work?

It has not been brought up, but the company that supplies our chemicals is doing constant research and "upgrading" the products we use. Bleach kills everything as of right now.

I'm sure you've seen some shit in your day, was there ever a mess that you refused to clean up? If so what was the reason behind it and was your refusal successful?

I absolutely refuse to go into a room that was a C. Difficile. Seeing the poo and the smell.... ugh. It's flat out terrible. I refuse but I am still asked to go clean that room. I clean it but I ask for a break right after and they give it to me.

Where I worked, we had three different levels of that sort of mess: Code brown (Small amounts of poo in various locations. Usually a resident who missed the toilet at some point), Code Sludge (Where a resident completely misses the toilet for the entire performance, or where they never got to the bathroom to begin with) and Code Corn (Where there is no hope for humanity. Grab a hazmat suit and the specialty vacuum)

Oh dang. All of ours is just flat out Code Brown. Its always a surprise when you get there. Sometimes I just wanna walk right out and tell them to get someone else. But I wanna keep my job, so I clean it up.

C diff has a look and smell that once you've encountered it, you never forget it.

You think cleaning the room is bad, imagine cleaning the actual patient that has it!

Oh heck no! I assume you have, and I could not do your job. You are stronger than I.

That's a healthcare related illness anyway, often caught inside the hospital. I've dealt with Giardia myself and all you can really do is sit on a toilet and hold on tight. Is there a situation where you can legally refuse to clean something? I would imagine a specialized sanitation crew would have to come in for some things, such as a bloodied room from an AIDS patient.

I haven't run into anyone getting away with refusing unless you're sick yourself. If it is an AIDS patient then we housekeepers do clean that room. But we do wear protective equipment. The one thing that we don't do is if the patient had bed bugs. Then we seal that room and we get a special crew to take care of that.

Bed bugs, worse than AIDS...

That's strange to think about, but AIDS basically goes away as the blood dries up. But we do take precautions just in case, and then again, I haven't seen a bloody AIDS room.

So in a hospital that could encounter all sorts of horrors bed bugs is the only "Kill it with fire" scenario?

That's the only one that pops into my head. But most of the viruses we are able to kill with the chemicals at our disposal. BUT WAIT. Just remembered, TB. We seal that room too and let that room sit for several hours till its safe to go in. TB is some nasty stuff.

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We put on a bit of gear but not much. There are times (rare) where a full body gear is required.

Hospitals and emergency rooms should have a respiratory illness wing, just because of TB. That is a brutal disease.

There is a section where just about all the TB rooms go to. But sometimes the patients illness is beyond TB, ie heart condition and so they would end up in the cardiovascualr unit.

Don't you have to bag yourself up from head to toe to clean a C. Difficile room? That little bug spreads like wildfire, and it's horrible.

Its not entirely head to toe. We put on a little dress (I've been up all night I can't think of the actual term for it) a mask if we want and spray that baby down with bleach. The things a killer to clean and smell. Makes me sick just thinking about it.

How mad would you be if you found a penny stuck in the elevator door?

I'd be watching you. But what if I gave 5 bucks to eat it after I get it out?

No comment, just wanted to say thank you. I work in a hospital and nothing would run without you guys

Thanks. It always means a lot to get a thanks in my line of work.

Before we all torture ourselves for not asking: What's your name?

Lets just call me David. That seems to be popular at work.

What's the weirdest thing you've walked in on?

A lady with her booty up in the air. White as the snow, wrinkly as wrinkly can get and as old as Rome itself. I walked in and walked right out.

This phrase needs to be made into a song.

I'll leave that to you.

Kinda like this?

EXACTLY! I walked in while putting on my gloves and walked out whilst taking them off.

I'm an orderly. There's this bitch of a house keeper who always leaves her cart perfectly angled in the hallway so there's just enough space taken up that a bed or wide wheelchair won't fit. I don't know why she does it. Nobody else does it. I've been at this shit for 5 and a half years and I'm absolutely sick of it. What can I do to subtly fuck with her? What is something small that would really make you hate your job?

And before people lose their shit, myself and all of the other orderlies tell her about it every day. She aware that it's a problem and yet, she is persists.

I would just take the safe route and alert her manager that she is in the way of patient care. Otherwise screwing with anything could land you in trouble.

But what about my desire for petty vengeance?

It'll only get you in trouble. Sometimes the best vengeance is the kick out the door.

Do you have a knifewrench?

Could you get me one?

Do you eat eggs?

I eat eggs.

eggs-cellent

It really is eggs-ordinary.

I egg-gree with you.

This might get old egg-stremely fast.

It could lead to an eggs-orbitant amount of comments.

Eggs-actly!

Well, eggs-scuse me.

I got no more Eggs-cellent words left.

So what do you do with all that biohazard waste?

We burn it on-site or if its radioactive then we lock it up in a secure area. It then gets disposed properly by other professionals.

Interesting. We would just throw it in those red bags and it would disappear.

Haha. But somebody took those red bags right?

Quite, I just always wondered where they went. Lots of sharp needles and blood.

The sharps we put in a red bin which gets picked up by the waste company. The blood we burn.

I'm a bit late to the party. I spent a lot of time in hospital as a kid, and just wanted to say I truly appreciate what you do for the patients of your hospital. The janitors I encountered were always the loveliest, most polite and kind people I encountered and I've always been in awe of what you do.

THANKS SO MUCH! :) We always try to have a smile. :)

Have you ever encountered (excuse my language) WEIRD ASS GHOST SHIT?!!

Hmmm.... I don't think I've run into a weird ass ghost who left a shit somewhere.

How douchy are the doctors you work with?

Well... I want to put this nicely... Most of the doctors are douchy. But not all. There are some that are nice and understand that I have to clean crap up.

Just thought I'd drop in and say "hi' to a fellow custodial worker in healthcare.

Is working at a hospital a clean job? I ask because worked at a veterans home\hospital and there were so many things that were just strange and out there that by the end of my time working there I wasn't phased by much. Things like residents urinating into their trash can because they didn't like the feel of the floor of their room's bathroom on their bare feet, residents who would use their dentures as a puppet and "Sing" to other residents with said puppet. Residents who would drag race their electric wheelchairs... That was a fun job, but just... too strange.

HELLO FRIEND! I usually run into patients who just talk to themselves the whole time. Not too many people are crazy in the rooms that I've been in.

Do you have any cool/unique cleaning machines?

I got a cool mop. I also have some pretty neat rags I use to wipe things with. Oh and I got this nice cart that I push around. That is as cool as it gets my friend.

So have you thought about starting your own squirel army of sorts?

Secondly, what is the wierdest thing you've seen a doctor or nurse do?

I have a turtle army.

I don't really know. I can't think of anything weird. I must work at a boring hospital.

Is there a sanitation protocol for going to and/or getting off work?

If so, what is it?

Shower before going to work. Leave your scrubs at work to be washed. Can't leave the hospital with scrubs on. That's the general rule stuff. But eh do ask us to change if we walk into an infectious room.

I am amazed at how some hospitals let people come and go with their scrubs on. My brother worked at Mount Sinai in the city, and he said they were very strict—scrubs stayed in the hospital. Anything else, if you ask me, is criminally irresponsible.

Just about no one is caught. It's really the hospital's administration for not catching the offenders. But some hospitals allow it, from what I've heard.

What's the most fucked up, nasty thing you've ever seen while on duty?

The thing that I still wonder about... I went to go clean a public restroom. There was poo on the flush handle. LIKE WTF! Seriously? I don't even get it. Someone must have wiped their rear-end with their hand.

I was a janitor at a hospital for a few years. I feel your pain! My absolute worst experience was while I was being trained. There was not enough room in the trash buggy, so the other guy showed me how you can rip a tiny hole in the bags and let the air out. Problem with this was... they were all red bags (hazardous!!)

Have you encountered any, less than bright co-workers, that put their own health at risk to make their job easier???

Everyone does the same exact thing. It's super risky. I've also seen doctors/nurses enter infectious rooms without proper equipment. Called them out like a boss.

Are there any bodily fluids that still have the power to faze you?

Not really. The only thing that makes me shiver is some of the diarrhea. Not all of it, but some of it. It has several forms and it makes me hold my breath. But I can deal with just about everything.

Every answer I am reading is in the voice of Neil Flynn.

My life has been narrated by him since I've worked as a janitor.

What is in that floor cleaner that gives hospitals that very noticeable clean-but-a-little-unpleasant smell?

It could be virex or neutral cleaner.

Have you ever experienced anything creepy or unexplained while working?

I've heard of areas of the hospital being haunted. In the Medical Procedure Unit, after hours gets a bit creepy. They have lights with very sensitive sensors and I always jump. I walk by a procedure room and BAM! All of heaven opens up. That's about it tho.

I hear A LOT about how dirty and disgusting some hospitals can be. As someone who's current profession is cleaning, is this in line with your experience? Are hospitals really as dirty and infectious as everyone says?

Thanks for doing this AMA!

I thought it would a neat thing to talk to people about. :)

We get ratings on our cleanliness and we check some of our rooms randomly. The hospital I work out tends to dance around the 77-81% mark. Its about 5-6 out of 20 or so on a list. The hospitals past 8 or 9 on that list are pretty bad. But to tell how clean a hospital/clinic is just look at their vents. Most hospitals have lights in their vents that kill bacteria. So If its dusty then that light can't really do its work. Which in return could cause the infection rate to go up. You can probably google hospitals in your area and find some of their rates.

http://hospitals.findthebest.com/

Give that a try.

Have you gotten that ol' J.D?

I got him fired hired.

How would you react if I stuck a penny in a sliding door?

I'd let it slide..... *walks out

What are you going to do if you find a penny up there?

I am gonna kill you JD!

I'm gonna come after you.

I really wanted to be all clever and ask if you'd ever found a penny stuck in a door, but it seems everyone has already beat me to it.

I can let you be all clever.

Has your hospital begun using those strong ultraviolet light-lamps which kills germs and viruses which have grown resistant (or moved to places where they don't get swabbed)?

We do use some kind of lights. I was told they were UV but not sure. Will have to double check on that. I don't touch them, but we have them throughout the hospital.

Have you ever found a penny in the door?

DAGNABIT! If I do find it there. I'm coming for you.

• Has anyone tried to befriend you so that they can get access to something in the hospital that they shouldn't have access to?
• What are some of the most interesting rooms you have access to in the hospital?
• Have you ever had any interesting stories of finding people where they weren't suppose to be when you went to go clean a room/area?
• What is something you are allowed to do in your current job that most other people would be jealous of?

• No one has tried, and even if they tried, the hospital badge system records your every entrance/exit so I would be shot up if i screwed up.

*I have access to just about everywhere. I gotta clean the entire place up! I have access to the Hospital Administration and I get to see what they're planning. So that's always cool. Oh and to a pool for physical therapy patients.

*There have been employees who try to hide in places. If we ever spot them we tell them to scat. They usually leave. Visitors/patients don't usually end up in closed or marked off areas. Security is always on top of that.

*Well... to have access to every room in the building. I know all the good hiding spots in-case of a zombie attack. I also get to go see operations, which I find just fascinating to watch.

Is this one of the hospitals with a pysch ward?

If so have you had any encounters with them?

Also if so, how do they keep escaping and showing up in my hotel's parking lot?

haha. We do have a psych ward and we have all doors locked at the ward. All entry and exit requires a badge to open a door.

I've been around them, they just say hi and move along. Sometimes they stare you down, and I just say hi and the reply back with a HELLO.

You might want to stop going to that hotel. Bad place to pickup chicks.

I used to be a housekeeper at a hospital!

My question for you is, does your hospital have a housekeeping contract (like HHS) or are you employed by the hospital itself?

I am employed by the hospital itself. But there is fear that the hospital might be moving in that direction.

So you are on a deserted island, and can only take 1 type of cleaning supply with you (hey, the island is dirty). What is that item?

BLEACH! Bleach the heck out of that thing.

Any paranormal or creepy experiences?

Just darn lights turn on when you walk past a procedure room in the dark. I flip out.

I had your job. Your job sucks.

But did you have fun?

Anything you want to say but haven't been asked?

Life moves too slow.

Does it? Or do we perceive it to be slow/

We perceive it to be slow, so then it is slow.

lots of "fun" questions here, but what about sterilization? MRSA and other "superbug" bacteria are cultivated in hospitals, what steps are being taken to clean rooms of these? I've heard of new technologies involving deep UV irradiation or ozonation. What are your standard procedures for disinfecting? Are they always followed strictly? Do you test for how effective the methods are? Are you ever worried you'll contract something untreatable by constantly being exposed?

I am always worried I will contract a bug like MRSA or even C. Diff. I don't know how I do it but I just go in and do it still fearing. For just about any pre-caution room we put on a gown and a mask if we find it to be airborne (or if we want a mask). But we do have full body suits for more serious cases. We haven't ahd a serious case for quite sometime. We use bleach to fight most of our infectious viruses and it tends to get the job done. From time to time the rooms get tested for any bacteria and if found, then things get taken care of (fired/re-trained).

The hospital has adopted UV lights throughout parts of the hospital. I only hope that it works well.

I hope I answered it thoroughly.

What you do when you are not working?

What everyone else does. Reddit.

You said you want to be a radiology tech. I think that's awesome! How do you plan on going about that? Are you taking classes locally?

I am taking classes. I need to finish up my biology then I can get in the program.

David! How old are you?

You shall not take my identity!

Thanks for doing this AMA. What does your typical day to day schedule consist of?

We start with a 5-10 minute meeting. Then we prep our carts. We clean a few rooms. Then we go and clean the areas of the hospital we were assigned. Some of us would get calls to go take care of some accidents that would've occurred.

How much an hour??

hehehehe. Im getting $16+ with free healthcare.

How hard to actually work? Can you hide in your closet all day?

I can't hide in the closet. D: The difficulty of the job would depend at what part of the hospital I am in charge of keeping tidy. Some areas demand more upkeep while others require just a few mops here and there.

I am also a janitor for a orthopedic specialist. All I can say is fuck iodine!

That stuff is a pain to take out. GAWD.

Just last week it looked like someone when wild with it an splashed it everywhere. 2 hours just to get the spots less visible. The shit we deal with for money.

But I love me that money.

How did you get into this line of work?

A friend of mine helped me get it.

Have you ever punched a whale?

Afraid not D:

But I petted a dolphin. :D

Custodian, dick.

Want a piece of me?