Your mother works here?

Walking down the hall separating labor and delivery from the physician call rooms this morning, I turned off the light in each room where the door was open. At 6:30 AM or 0630, everyone is upstairs making rounds. Having just arrived for my shift beginning at 0700, I am changing clothes in preparation for morning check out of the labor board. After turning off all call room lights, I pull open the door to our common room. No one is here but the television is on, 7 Styrofoam cups are filled to varying degrees with now cold coffee, and two or maybe three days of old newspapers are scattered around the room.

I quickly "clean house" before sitting down to the computer to print out the lists of patients on which I will make rounds this morning. I have yet to understand why people who would never think of making this kind of mess where they live feel so comfortable leaving it behind where they work. To weak to turn of the light when leaving a room or to throw out a coffee cup or newspaper when done, the clutter left behind by my colleagues is not what I in my line of vision for any of the next twenty four hours.

In this hospital housekeeping is the rate limiting step. The lowest paid are the employees on whom labor room and operating room turner over depend. No wonder they will clean the operating rooms and labor rooms first and do "the back" only if there is time. There are two housekeeping staff here from 0700 to 1500, one from 1500 to 2300 and one from 2300 to 0700 the next day. That is if we are talking weekdays. On weekends, only one person per shift is allowed. At critical times, the scrub techs and even the nurses will clean in the operating rooms and labor rooms.

I have a great amount of respect for the women who clean here. It is back breaking work that the rest of us depend on yet they are paid a fraction of we make. Since I often clean in the back, and also because I have taught many of the residents not to leave instruments and equipment laying around in the delivery rooms, I have developed a good rapport with housekeeping. I also posted a sign: "We are pretty sure your mother does not work here. Please clean up before you leave." I bet even housekeeping is appalled at how messy doctors can be.