Pregnancy and Critical Care Nursing

[rach2103]

Hello all! I have a question regarding being pregnant in nursing...

3 months ago, I transferred from an orthopedic floor to a cardiac ICU. I found out yesterday that I am 5 weeks pregnant (yay!), but got to thinking about work...

I have heard that varicella/chicken pox patients are the only isolation patients you are not supposed to care for. Are there any other restrictions while pregnant?

When should you tell your supervisors about your pregnancy? I didn't think I wanted to tell them right away, but then I thought that maybe they could be aware when making patient assignments.

What do you all think?

Thanks!

[Ruby Vee, BSN]

i think you need to tell your supervisor pdq about your pregnancy. they need to know your situation so they don't ask you to do things that you really shouldn't. not to mention people might think you are slacking if you ask for extra breaks etc.

congrats!

congratulations to the original poster on her pregnancy!

i'm not sure quite how to break this to all of you, but if you ask for extra breaks, lighter assignments and to avoid all isolation patients, you are slacking. pregnancy is not an illness, it's a condition, and many people choose to be in that condition. i work in an icu and currently, six of the 8 nurses on shift with me are in various stages of pregnancy or trying to get pregnant. eight of our 15 patients are in isolation, four of them weigh more than 300 pounds, three of them are nasty and/or violent and one is just a pain in the posterior. it just isn't possible for me and the two men on shift to take care of all of those patients while the 6 pregnant women have the light, easy and non-isolated patients.

as for the breaks, i was once standing in line for the employee bathroom and a pregnant coworker tried to jump ahead of me in the line "because i'm pregnant." my response was "i'm on diuretics and i really do have to pee. you just think you have to." she apologized and waited her turn. your pregnancy is an awesome and wonderful thing, but it does not entitle you to more or longer breaks than anyone else. and as for lifting -- you might find yourself working with the nurse with the back injury who can barely do her own lifting and isn't about to do yours to.

[DoKa]

Dear colleagues,

Happy New Year! I am 10 weeks pregnant, and in a couple of weeks starting an ICU RN job at a new hospital. When I got the offer and agreed to relocate I was not pregnant, so I never discussed this issue with my new employer.

-Should I inform them from now or just wait until I pass all the health and written exams and get actually hired?

I am due in August, so I will have worked for this employer for

-Will I have the right to get a maternity leave without losing my job? How long can this be?

Thanks in advance for your help!

[bubblejet50]

Dear colleagues,

Happy New Year! I am 10 weeks pregnant, and in a couple of weeks starting an ICU RN job at a new hospital. When I got the offer and agreed to relocate I was not pregnant, so I never discussed this issue with my new employer.

-Should I inform them from now or just wait until I pass all the health and written exams and get actually hired?

I am due in August, so I will have worked for this employer for

-Will I have the right to get a maternity leave without losing my job? How long can this be?

Thanks in advance for your help!

You should qualify for fmla by then. You need to work 1250 hours which is about 7months fulltime to qualify. Its 26 wks total unpaid. You only get that much total for working at a place I believe. I was hired in sept and just had my baby 5 days ago and it looks like im going to have to go back to work next week or get fired! boo

[NicuGal, MSN, RN]

You have to work one year with 1250 hours of service. You can have 12 weeks off without penalty if you qualify, which it sounds like you won't. Most places give you 6 weeks for a vag delivery and 8 weeks for a c/s if you don't qualify for FMLA.

[dah doh, BSN, RN]

Avoid CMV and chemo patients. Otherwise I took care of all other patients when pregnant. I bought a support belt which helped with back support. I took lots of pee breaks. I tried to avoid violent combative patients and extremely obese patients. My coworkers usually didn't let me do CPR, push beds, or reposition patients when they knew i was pregnant. I personally hated bending over for foleys and chest tubes so I found alternate methods. I worked until 36 weeks when my OB took me off work. The old timers will tell you they worked until they delivered. I have coworkers who have problems so they get put on modified early on. It depends on how you are doing.

As to the other question, its 1250 hours of work within the last 365 days to qualify for FMLA. Post delivery medical leave is 6 weeks off for vag delivery and 8 weeks for c-section (max 16 weeks medical leave including when the doctor takes you off work pre-delivery...you lose what you don't use of this once the OB medically clears you). FMLA or bonding leave is 12 weeks max which can be taken up til the baby is 1 year old. Most people take it following the medical leave. Most of this is federal mandate but some varies by state and facility. By the way, 12 weeks bonding leave can be taken by both the baby's mother and father, but if you work for the same employer, they may make you share it.