[magz53]

We often have to float to med surg floors and among the many complaints and arguments we have against it is the fact we are told we can go in rooms and care for patients on contact isolation and then return to our floor and work with Moms and Babes !!!!! Years ago, we had to shower and change our scrubs after floating and that was before these "superbugs" were so common. What is happening to common sense ?? We return to our "clean" floor and have babies in our care with immature immune systems ?? Does anyone have a resource I can quote.....such as CDC, ACOG, AWHONN etc. that would give a stance on this concern ?? Thanks in advance.

[racing-mom4]

Our OB gals must wear a lab coat out on the floor when they are floating and they are NOT allowed to go into any isolation rooms.

Granted how many pts do they take care of that test positive the next day for C-Diff/Mrsa etc etc/ Even though the night before they were not in isolation...

Not that the lab coat protects 100%---but it does somewhat I guess protect their scrub top. Once worn the lab coats are not to go back into the "clean" unit.

[nyapa]

Does this all occur in the one shift?

[bethin]

I work primarily med surg but when I float to OB I change my scrubs and give myself a sponge bath. OB have showers but they are for OB staff only. I still wear a isolation gown when handling babies.

When OB floats to med surg they do not go into rooms where there is even the possibility of a pt with MRSA, TB, etc. They generally take care of the pt's who are in for COPD, CHF, etc.

[lmc512]

So what do you do when it is the postpartum pt that has the MRSA? Heck we get off service with MRSA, VRE etc on our mom/baby unit and one nurse can have thosee isolation pts and healthy mom/babies at the same time.
I used to work at another hospital for 4 years and never once had a MRSA or isolation pt at all on the mom/baby unit then I change hospitals and MRSA is like a common cold here!

[magz53]

Yes, there are those who claim that everyone has MRSA, which I don't agree with !! I have read that C-diff is the new superbug that even 3 or 4 rounds of Vanco might not eliminate. I come from the days when nurses had to have nose cultures prior to working in the nursery and heavy staph shedders were not allowed in there. I am again wondering if the CDC or AWHONN or ACOG or even JCHAO has any guidelines pertaining to maintaining the "clean" status of the maternity floor. We are trying to protect the infants but it is often seen as being insubordinate and that is what we are threatened with is insubordination. Now most of us are not working for the pure joy of it so we end up doing something we feel in the gut as being innately wrong, but we need our job. HELLLLLLLLLOOOOOOOO any management out there care to respond ( or are they banned from this site ?? )

[mary78910]

When i worked ob we weren't allowed to take a patient load on med/surg incase we were called back to our floor. But we were NOT allowed to go in a isolation room.
Then i switched hospitals, what is isolation, i had to throw a fit to get gowns and masks for m to go in a room. They said "your a nurse you probably have been exosed already" hello my kids arent and i don't want to bring this crap home. Yeah i think i'm the only one who will wear a mask or gown in a room, they usually just put on gloves, doesn't matter what type of isolation it is, but thats another thread......

[Hoping2beRN]

I am not a nurse, but in school.

I am a support huc/pct on L&D/mother baby and it is a rule in our hospital that once your out of the building (we have a seperate building for ob/gyn issues) you can't come back the rest of your shift with out showering and a change of scrubs. Most of the time you just don't come back, period. There have only 1 or 2 times that I have seen a nurse come back after a float and that was because there was a epidemic of the stomach bug going around and many nurses called off. I have NEVER seen an aid come back from a float. As a HUC even though I don't do direct patient care when I am HUC'ing, I am NOT allowed to enter the nursery if I have been in the main house. Meaning the nurses have to bring me the charts and then I have to wipe them down before having a nurse come get them.

Most hospitals here in dayton, as a whole, have the rule, "Once your floating, considered yourself floated".

I would definitely try to find that out because it really isn't healthy for new babes and moms.

Oh, there have been a few times that we have had mom's on antepartum that have had VRE or MRSA or C-diff from stints in the main house and they are considered a 1:1. The nurse who has that pt usually just helps with orders or stocks.