PDN and Pregnancy

caliotter3 · Oct 26, 2014

The problem with trying to do extended care nursing while pregnant, is the clients have a tendency to use any little excuse to get rid of you to get someone else and pregnancy gives them the excuse they need. Of course, they won't tell the agency that they don't want a pregnant nurse. Extended care work is iffy at best. If you can find a family/patient that you mesh with fine, but don't count on that. If you need steady employment, best to stick it out where you are, or better yet, find a more suitable position closer to home. Not to say it can't be done, just not statistically a winner. And if you are beat as it is, then you most likely won't be able to succeed at both.

cayenne06, MSN, CNM · Oct 26, 2014

Can you get FMLA paperwork to allow you to not to 3 shifts in a row? Or can you move to PRN status for the duration of the pregnancy?

Another thought- I work an hour from home, and sometimes when I am doing 3-4 shifts in a row, I will get a cheap hotel room for a night to allow me to catch up on sleep. Some nurses will sleep here, but I just CANNOT relax at work, so I don't mind spending 60-80 bucks for a decent night's sleep.

Not_A_Hat_Person, RN · Oct 27, 2014

First of all, congratulations on your pregnancy!

I work private duty, and I had twins in March. The biggest problems, especially toward the end, were repositioning patients and fatigue. All of my clients had mechanical lifts (except one, whose parents fired me for other reasons) so lifting and transferring weren't a problem, but repositioning was. One client was heavier than me. Another client's foster mother was not happy about helping me get my client into the shower (the other 2 nurses on the case had bad backs, so she had to do all of the transfers). It was able to sit when I needed to, but sometimes I had to get right back up.

I took on a new client soon after I learned I was pregnant. It was a 90-minute drive one-way. I had to drop the client because I nearly fell asleep at the wheel too many times. My others were within 40 minutes of home.

Be aware that working Private Duty means you may not have backup. I started bleeding at work when I was 10 weeks along. My OB wanted to see me right away, but my client and I were home alone. I had to wait 90 very long minutes for someone to take over so I could go to my OB's office. Everytthing turned out well, but it was a very scary shift.

MrsICURN14 · Oct 27, 2014

First of all, congratulations on your pregnancy!
I work private duty, and I had twins in March. The biggest problems, especially toward the end, were repositioning patients and fatigue. All of my clients had mechanical lifts (except one, whose parents fired me for other reasons) so lifting and transferring weren't a problem, but repositioning was. One client was heavier than me. Another client's foster mother was not happy about helping me get my client into the shower (the other 2 nurses on the case had bad backs, so she had to do all of the transfers). It was able to sit when I needed to, but sometimes I had to get right back up.
I took on a new client soon after I learned I was pregnant. It was a 90-minute drive one-way. I had to drop the client because I nearly fell asleep at the wheel too many times. My others were within 40 minutes of home.
Be aware that working Private Duty means you may not have backup. I started bleeding at work when I was 10 weeks along. My OB wanted to see me right away, but my client and I were home alone. I had to wait 90 very long minutes for someone to take over so I could go to my OB's office. Everytthing turned out well, but it was a very scary shift.

Those are good things for me to think about. And I bet that was very scary!! I would freak out. Thanks so much for the input!

rnrg · Oct 30, 2014

I did PDN while I was pregnant with my 3rd and final child. Thank god because I tailored my client case load around what type of care I could tolerate. It's MUCH easier during pregnancy. Afterwards eh, not so much. People were REALLY freaked out about my having to pump while in their home. Dispite my being a peds nurse who works with mostly infants. Kinda ironic but I finally found a few families who didn't care. I just ended up working one or two shifts per case/clients then switching so not to burn out my families. Worked ok.

rnrg · Oct 30, 2014

First of all, congratulations on your pregnancy!
I work private duty, and I had twins in March. The biggest problems, especially toward the end, were repositioning patients and fatigue. All of my clients had mechanical lifts (except one, whose parents fired me for other reasons) so lifting and transferring weren't a problem, but repositioning was. One client was heavier than me. Another client's foster mother was not happy about helping me get my client into the shower (the other 2 nurses on the case had bad backs, so she had to do all of the transfers). It was able to sit when I needed to, but sometimes I had to get right back up.
I took on a new client soon after I learned I was pregnant. It was a 90-minute drive one-way. I had to drop the client because I nearly fell asleep at the wheel too many times. My others were within 40 minutes of home.
Be aware that working Private Duty means you may not have backup. I started bleeding at work when I was 10 weeks along. My OB wanted to see me right away, but my client and I were home alone. I had to wait 90 very long minutes for someone to take over so I could go to my OB's office. Everytthing turned out well, but it was a very scary shift.

I had a similar experience. I almost lost my daughter while on duty. Drove 1.5h home bleeding it was the worst day ever. Thank god, she's beautiful and perfect (born a little early @36w) in the middle of Hurricane Sandy 10/31/12 my little Halloween baby!