Can someone explain that business about sanitary products and hospital workers

[Ohmycron]

I don’t understand why they just can’t take a big pack in in case they run short like everyone else does

Have I missed something.

Work as a community nurse which can a real a pita when you need the toilet to sort yourself but have to drive back to base. Oh I'll just go to so and so as I'm right by their house...

@Ohmycron

Really? Seems unlikely !! Surely you take a piss somewhere

I've a friend who is a nurse. She's lucky if she gets time for a toilet break when on a shift.

@Shitzngiggles

Such a simple thing to implement to make women's lives just that little bit easier. Yet there's women on here who begrudge that, just mind boggling. Obviously never experienced anything other than light periods so of course that's every woman's experience isn't it.

Yes - never mind when you hit the menopause.

Tee hee. I’d take a long walk.

'Yeah I know this is a really critical part of the surgery but I need to take a long walk'

'I'm sorry your mother didn't have any with her when she arrested in ICU but I'd gone for a long walk'

FFS

It's not always about getting breaks though. I'm a doctor, if I'm on a ward round with a consultant and suddenly think I need to go and check/ change my pad, I have to wait till we get a break, then disappear off the ward via the office, and rush back. Pads in the loos would help, I keep some in our downstairs office for all of us to use

[quote OnceuponaRainbow18]@Ohmycron

I work in a school where we are utterly awash with sanitary protection that everyone reckons all the kids need and take up is so minimal

How are they being offered to those who might need them? Maybe your school is doing it in a shit way and the kids are too embarrassed or you work in an affluent school[/quote]
They're 'awash' with them for a short time when the termly delivery arrives. It looks as though there are just as many packs after a month as there were at the outset and there are boxes stashed in every spare corner over the site.

However, by the end of term, it's a completely different matter - just a few packs left.

Then it all starts again with a couple of five foot high palettes delivered at the start of next term.

@CharlotteRose90

What I don’t understand is that scrubs have pockets? Why don’t people put pads or tampons in there. I work In a hospital and my uniform has a pocket. I carry a pad on me every shift.

The scrubs I have. 1 pocket on the top. That has my pens, handover, spare paper, scissors, tape, anything I may need. The pants have 1 pocket. That's where I keep my phone. I have no space for tampons or sanitary towels. Christ they would spend more time on the floor, other hcp will agree you hold onto your pockets when wearing scrubs.

It's never been an issue you just have to use your initiative.

Why should we have to use initiative? Men don't when they need toilet paper. It's such an easy give and obviously would make some women's lives all last easier.

@simonisnotme

Im not convinced that they are so busy all the time that they cant go for a wee

I’d often go from 8.30-4pm as a teacher not getting to go to the loo so I can totally believe NHS staff wouldn’t always be able to get to a loo. It’s really not good for you but plenty of jobs where this is sadly the norm.

I think the issue is hard to understand if you aren't aware of the nitty gritty of ward set ups.

I'm a mental health nurse. If I am with an unwell patient who is on eyesight observations I cannot pop to the loo - I need to be with them and alert constantly. If there is not a colleague free to swap with me I cannot leave. And since staffing is terrible (like, my current team has less that 50% of the nurses we are meant to have) the chances of someone being free to swap are low.

Now, if I am looking after a group of patients who need to be checked regularly, bit not constantly, I can pop to the loo. But I can't leave the secure area, as that requires a series of locked doors and waiting for hub staff to buzz me through different doors. So I can't get to my locker. So access to san pro is a problem.

In my area it is extremely restricted as to what items you can carry, so no, I can't wander around with a pocket full of tampons. And shifts are intended to be 13 hours, but regularly run over, so a tampon and a pad together is still not adequate.

I'm luck that the ward manager on my last ward job was a sensible woman and san pro was provided in the staff toilet. I doubt this cost much, but it really helped staff avoid having to have embarrassing conversations about being on their period and ask for accommodations to this each shift. And I imagine the low cost was worthwhile, as a happier and less stressed staff team has a benefit in less sickness and more productivity.

I'm not suggesting that providing san pro will solve every problem in nursing, but it is one problem that is easily solved.

Surely that’s not legal.

I don’t know what you’re talking about but I believe every workplace should provide some free sanitary products in the staff bathrooms.
Especially in places like hospitals where the staff aren’t able to have their bags on them like they would an office setting.

I actually cannot believe I am reading some of the replies on here. Why do people (and scarily some women) believe that they know how every woman’s period is and how much sanitary protection they need. HCP are saying they need this, it should be given. There should be no discussion.

I work for the NHS in a clinical role. We have san pro in our staff loos. But it’s donated by staff for staff.
I make the effort to donate on a monthly basis as do a lot of other staff, same as we do for coffee/tea etc.
It’s just a thing that makes really long shifts a little easier.

Another point to add. Yes hospital shops sell sanpro. At a ridiculous price. I came on my period and had to spend nearly £4 on a box of tampons.
That's 1 box. And the problem was that I wasn't heavy enough for that tampon so it was a very uncomfortable shift until I got home

I work in a school where we are utterly awash with sanitary protection that everyone reckons all the kids need and take up is so minimal

If you work in a school you would also understand that having time to go to the toilet is a luxury.
You also have your bag close by so you can grab it and go to the toilet and most of the time there is san pro available in the toilets or you can ask a colleague to borrow some.
Hospitals don’t usually have this set up.

@Ohmycron

I work in a school where we are utterly awash with sanitary protection that everyone reckons all the kids need and take up is so minimal

I don't understand why it would be a problem if they were provided and then it turned out they weren't much needed anyway - you'd just stop ordering more. Sanpro doesn't go off. I could see that if, say, the suggestion was that fruit be provided then there'd be an argument that it could be wasteful. But if some tampons and towels sit around for a long time - who cares? Especially when the upside is that it might make women feel more comfortable and dignified at work.

@Starynight282

Seeline scrubs do have pockets. The tops do.

When I'm on my period I keep a tampon in my scrub pocket or I'll tuck a pad and a tampon into my sock (long socks with tight elastic). It's never been an issue you just have to use your initiative.

What would you do if a period came on unexpectedly, or if you flooded so that what you were carrying was inadequate?

Would people seriously contemplate saying that men should be expected to go about their work with pads stuffed down their socks?

Some comments on this thread beggar belief, the whole ' well I manage ok so what's wrong with those of you that can't?' attitude. Pretty depressing actually.

@LuluBlakey1

It's the same for many workers- hospital staff are no different. Teachers, for example- can go from 8.45am-1.pm and end up with no break. Hospital staff have plenty of places they can keep stuff- most nurses have pockets in their top, or their trousers have pockets, or they can wear a t shirt underneath with a pocket. Or you can wear a tampon and a pad. It's trivial fuss and drama when there are so many much bigger things we need to worry about.

As a teacher I could pop san pro in my pencil case or pocket, when I didn’t have my own classroom I was hauling lots of stuff around with me. A loo trip was sometimes inconvenient but possible. It’s very different from the situation described in healthcare.

@simonisnotme

Im not convinced that they are so busy all the time that they cant go for a wee

You clearly don't work in a hospital then. Believe me, it happens.

@Starynight282 not mocking but very sarcastic.

Because

• you might have found a solution that works for you but you should know it might not work every woman
• defending that it’s a problem easily solved by putting a tampon in your socks is ludicrous. It’s not normal to have to walk around sanpro in your socks.

I don't really understand either, it's no different from shop workers, factory staff or many others who can't have personal items with them. That said it's perfectly reasonable to suggest that staff could have a pocket or bumbag with them with any personal effects after all hospital staff unlike in shops have phones with them so must store them somewhere (or at least drs do) most nurses are assigned to one area for a shift so it's less of an issue.

Why is this suddenly an issue now?

A better solution would be for women working in hospitals to boldly state they're going to change their sanitary products if questioned about where they're going, where they've been or why they're at their locker. Then the hospital can decided if it would rather lose time or money.