SOOOO HOT AT WORK!!

[flyfarfaraway]

Let me start off by saying I'm currently 31 weeks pregnant. I get so darn hot at work it's unbelievable. Especially when I get stuck in an isolation room assisting with a thoracentesis for 30 minutes in one of those plastic blue gowns, or if I'm in a TB isolation room wearing a fricken N95 mask. I have had to stick my head in a freezer for like 15 minutes a couple of times because I thought I was going to pass out. What do you think about getting a little fan for my cow? (Computer on Wheels) Have you ever seen anyone do this? It's always so hot in a lot of my patients rooms because I work on a pulmonary floor and a lot are old with pneumonia and are "freezing cold!!"

[NicuGal, MSN, RN]

I happen to like my job and they do come after you if we aren't in it. New VP of nursing....

[flyfarfaraway]

Well, well. This went up fast. I'm thinking of trying the cooling towel and just shoving it down my shirt. I've had to start wearing a maternity belt which makes me even hotter. For the isolation patients, I don't have any with CMV or chicken pox/shingles. I was exposed to CMV early in pregnancy because we didn't know the patient had it until after a bronch, and I had to have blood drawn but everything turned out okay. Most of the time it's always R/O TB and we haven't had a real TB patient on the floor in a while, but if there was a known TB patient, I'm pretty sure I wouldn't get it. I've let them know that I really would rather not have a TB or droplet patient because of the mask (ALREADY SOB!! LOL), but I'm sure with FLU season coming up I will have to have some flu patients, I mean, I work on a pulmonary floor! I do think 4 out of 5 isolation patients with one of them being TB isolation is a little much though (I had a team like that a couple of weeks ago and ended up in Triage really dehydrated even though I'd had 2 liters of water thoughout my shift). Apparently our old nurse manager whom I never worked with would break it up so no one would have more than 3 at a time.

Sometimes I miss working at a restaurant with deep freezers to escape too!

[K+MgSO4, BSN]

I used to work behind a bar. I used to dash off the the keg fridge to cool off :-). My ward has huge glass windows with awesome views of the city but it does mean it gets pretty tropical in summer

[aTOMicTom]

...Sometimes I miss working at a restaurant with deep freezers to escape too!

You could spend your breaks in the morgue (or dietary's walk-in, but the morgue makes for a better story)

Seems to me that would make it seem even hotter when you came out, though!

Look at the bright side; pretty soon you'll be on maternity leave! :)

[Penelope_Pitstop, BSN, RN]

Bed Bath and Beyond and Walmart sell cooling towels. You place it on your neck and they stay cold all the time. They are not wet either.

Chilly Pads by Froggy Toggs are a LIFE SAVER!

I am one of those people who has always been sensitive to heat, and I travel a lot and attend a lot of NASCAR races...that's a recipe for dehydration and overheating.

I own three chilly pads. They work by evaporative cooling, and can be cut to fit. The bra idea is a great one...I do that, too...got the tip from a racecar driver who places an icepack over his heart, under his suit, during a race.

Another thing to remember is to HYDRATE! I know work is busy but if you show up to work already hydrated you have some leeway if you get busy.

[jadelpn, LPN, EMT-B]

There are home stores that have personal fans that go around your neck and hang on a cord. Not that it would help in an isolation room, however, you could wear it other times.....

[prmenrs, RN]

Amazon.com: Ergodyne Chill-Its 6700CT Evaporative Cooling Bandana with Cooling Towel - Tie, Solid Blue: Home Improvement

Keep one or two in an insulated cooler (lunch pack) that you've pre-frozen. When you get a break, wash your face and neck and put one one while you have a cool drink. I used to break open a few alcohol wipes, wet a pile of 4x4s and wring the whole mess out, then wash my face off w/that. We used to have a pile of 4x4s above all the sinks--that what we used to clean off poopy baby bottoms. I imagine it would work w/a wash cloth. The alcohol dries your face off better than just water.

just a couple of ideas

[LaRN]

This is a link to osha on Heat Stress. I didn't read the entire thing to see if you are covered under this rule.

https://www.osha.gov/dts/osta/otm/otm_iii/otm_iii_4.html

[dudette10, MSN, RN]

I feel for you. I have the WORST hot flashes at work d/t a TVH-BSO. Sweat drips off me. Surgical menopause is AWFUL!!! I'm gonna stick an ice pack in my bra next time. Hope it works.