[thrashej]

I searched a bit for this answer but could not find anything too specific so forgive me for asking again....

I am a new grad starting a new RN job next week that I interviewed for quite a while ago. I found out last week that I am pregnant. I am very happy about this but very nervous. Back in May I became pregnant and then miscarried at 13 weeks and ended up leaving my very first RN job due to stress related to this incident and the pregnancy in general. In hindsight, I see that may have not been the best choice but it is what it is. Back then, part of me thought it was the stress of being a new RN that caused it. Now, ironically, I find history repeating itself but after my miscarriage I felt a strong pull to be pregnant again. I just did not think it would happen so soon at my age. I figured I'd have a few months at least to adjust to the new job, but that was not to be. That said, I think I want to make the best of it. I am praying that this baby is healthy and that in 9 mos I will get the opportunity to meet him/her.

That said, I am asking: Should I tell my manager I just found out I am pregnant? I don't want major exceptions made for me but I am concerned that there are at least some patients you need to avoid while pregnant. If this manager is unwilling to bend at all I would like to know this earlier rather than later so I could back out now and not start the job at all, before they even start paying me. I don't want to waste her time or mine since having a health baby right now must be my priority.

Or I could wait a while to tell....feel out the job first.....but aren't there diseases i absolutely have to avoid, not just practice "universal precautions" with? I thought about waiting until after the first trimester but I don't know. Last job I had it was all I could do to eat and pee and they KNEW. I hope I don't live that nightmare over again. If you are a manager, would you like to know beforehand? Do you think that would work for me or against me?

Can't you still deal with MRSA and C-diff safely, if you are careful. What are the "absolute not-even-in-the-same-room-with" contraindications for pregnancy? You can understand my anxiety over this considering my last pregnancy outcome.

Thank you for taking the time to reply!

[NurseyBaby'05]

Congrats on your new baby!

I would be up front with my manager once you have the pregnancy confirmed by your doc or midwife. The you can tell others on a need to know basis early on.

Are you in an environment where pt's are receiving chemo or have radiation implants? Those are two big no-no's. Keep in mind that chemo pt's body fluids are considered contaminated for 7 days post infusion. Most are actually only contaminated for4-5, but there a few that are seven. It's just an easier rule of thumb to remember. It's not to say you can't take care of these patients, but if one is grossly incontinent, you may end up swapping clean-up duty with a co-worker who has a non-chemo patient.

VRE, shingles, chicken pox, ruebella, TB come immediately to mind that you should not be taking care of. Something makes me think there are extra precautions you have to take with bone scan dye too, but don't quote me on that. MRSA and c-diff are okay as long as standard precautions are followed. Actually most things are. The ones I mentioned up above don't come up too often except VRE.

Your manager may feel a little inconvenienced, but reasonable accomadations should be made for you. If you have already started one new nursing job and backed out, it's really important that you follow through with this one. Obviously not at the expense of your baby, but you get what I'm driving at. It would be very easy at this stage of the game to talk yourself out of this new job and I think that it would be a bad idea. Work full time as long as you can and develop your education that you worked hard for. That way you have something to come back to. If your manager is worth his/her salt, he will value your work ethic and be more willing to work with you after the baby is born than with someone new off the street; which is what you would be if you quit and started somewhere else again.

[suespets]

keep it to your self. business is business: they would find a way to not actually hire u,supposedly (non-related to preg.)I know this 1st hand.

[elizabells]

Best wishes with everything! All I can offer is to take good care of yourself, practice universal precautions, and stay away from pts with CMV, if you know they have it.

[NurseyBaby'05]

Originally Posted by suespets

keep it to your self. business is business: they would find a way to not actually hire u,supposedly (non-related to preg.)I know this 1st hand.

She's already hired. It's better for some higher-ups to know so that they are able to accomadate her rather than rearrange everything (like assignments) at the last minute.

Elizabells-Oops! I forgot about CMV.

[suespets]

i know she's already hired,but know from experience,they can "change" that. happened to me. that most likely won't accomodate,et don't want the loss of a nurse to maternity leave

[thrashej]

Thank you guys.

I totally understand what you mean about making this job work. I got a couple red flags in the interview so I am just hoping wishing and praying that this is a good gig and that I'll be better prepared to handle things this time.

So...I am leaning towards not telling, at least for a while (especially since I could go on to miscarry again) but what do I do if I go to work and my preceptor and I have a pt with shingles? If I haven't told my manager yet...or ANYONE for that matter, how am I going to get out of taking care of that patient? I'll be working med surg with predominantly the elderly population.

Last time, I found consecutive days so hard physically because my 12 hour shifts would turn into 14's. I am hoping that this time, at least after training, I could stagger my days. I think that would be much more doable. One day on, One day off, etc.

Thank you for understanding. I know it would be real easy to talk myself out of it. But I do understand that it was not likely stress that caused the demise of my last pregnancy, it was most likely something I had NO control over. All around I am trying to be positive but I sure feel like I am jumping right back into the fire. I guess all new grads feel that way.

[x_coastie]

I would keep it on the down-low for as long as possible (until it became obvious or you were going to be exposed to dangerous chemicals/radiation.) And when you do tell your sup. make sure and send an email with a copy going to yourself. That way if you start getting written up soon after, it may help to prove discrimination.

My wife started getting written up for very minor things shortly after becoming pregnant, and she was told "one more write up and you are fired". The chain of command was no help and we spoke to a lawyer and she said this type of discrimination was hard to prove and in our state you could be fired at will for no reason. The only thing that saved her job was the sup. moved to another hospital.

Unfortunately, you have to CYA at every step. Not everyone is fair or ethical.