Assignment of isolation pts

[delphine22]

Another thread on pregnancy got me thinking: Does your unit avoid assigning isolation pts to pregnant nurses? On the face it makes sense, but really, shouldn't they be using the same precautions we all do? What's the difference between a pregnant nurse and one with a newborn at home? Or an immunocompromised family member?

Separate but related question: Would you assign a contact pt and a neutropenic pt to the same nurse? I had a floor do that to a float nurse. Again, nurse should be taking all precautions anyway, but it just seems stupid to me if it can be at all avoided.

Finally (I guess I should have made 3 topics): Does your unit keep the isolation pts on a separate part of the floor, or refuse to take most isos all together, depending on your normal pt population? I've seen some surgical floors refuse isos, and we keep them far away from the OHS pts on our floor. But the same nurse may take care of both. Or in some hospitals, not.

[Caffeine_IV]

No chemo, shingles, chicken pox for the pregnant nurses on my past unit.

At my current employer, yes we take isolation patients with the exception of TB/rule out TB because we don't have negative airflow rooms.

[IrishIzCPNP, MSN, RN, APRN, NP]

I'll never forget the time i was working and had a patient to transport....in her bed.

We always use 2 people as we transport in full hospital beds. I was told ask Joe to help because Sally was pregnant.

Oh yeah let me do that because her pregnancy is so much more important than mine. I couldn't believe it.

[sistrmoon, BSN, RN]

I work Onc and we often have contact and neutropenic patients in our assignments. Sometimes they are both.

While pregnant, I got c diff Patients, MRSA, VRE, etc. We don't have negative pressure rooms so no TB. The only patients we are allowed to refuse by policy are sickle cell crisis as they might have parvovirus. Pregnant women on our floor also don't have to hang chemo(although some do.) Unless you don't have varicella immunity, you can still take shingles/chickenpox.

[NicuGal, MSN, RN]

We have a list from our ID department that gives us what pregnant people are exempt from...CMV, chickenpox, TORCHs, shingles are the main ones.

[Ruby Vee, BSN]

I've worked with nurses who, immediately upon getting that positive pregnancy test, start "requesting" special assignments. They cannot take bariatric patients, patients in isolation, or patients who travel. They shouldn't have to work weekends or holidays, and by the way they need an orientee every day so that someone else can "do their work." Or maybe they should just do charge every shift that they work. Then they can't take certain patients because they're nursing. They can't work holidays because they have small children. They want to switch shifts on a moment's notice because "Sally has a dance recital." I quit doing favors for these nurses the time one told me she didn't understand why I wouldn't work her Christmas (without a switch being offered) because "I have small children and you have no life."

[duskyjewel]

[Here.I.Stand, BSN, RN]

Pregnant (and in some cases, breastfeeding) women are not assigned to pts on hazardous to handle precautions, or to pts w/ varicella infections, CMV etc. MRSA, VRE, C diff etc. are fair game.

[Here.I.Stand, BSN, RN]

And then there are the pregnant nurses who travel with 200 kg neuro pts in their car-sized bariatric LAL bed, with lots and lots of IV pumps. Or the ones who work through the first 8 hours of labor. Or the ones who, during week 39 and on, jump at every chance to help turn pts--the bigger the better!--because maybe the exertion would work its magic on our cervices. I may or many not have done this.

I've worked with nurses who, immediately upon getting that positive pregnancy test, start "requesting" special assignments. They cannot take bariatric patients, patients in isolation, or patients who travel. They shouldn't have to work weekends or holidays, and by the way they need an orientee every day so that someone else can "do their work." Or maybe they should just do charge every shift that they work. Then they can't take certain patients because they're nursing. They can't work holidays because they have small children. They want to switch shifts on a moment's notice because "Sally has a dance recital." I quit doing favors for these nurses the time one told me she didn't understand why I wouldn't work her Christmas (without a switch being offered) because "I have small children and you have no life."

[luv2handsanitize]

(I teach HR legal issues in management classes and this comes up frequently) ..... Pregnancy is not a disability, therefore they are not entitled to any special accommodation. Managers who do this are actually creating greater HR liability for their organizations. All staff need to comply with universal precautions. If a pregnant nurse feels that she is not capable of performing the job due to personal feelings about safety, she needs to request a change of job or go on FMLA. BTW, teratogenic substances' threat to reproductive capability is the same for women and men.

Old post, but I have to ask: have you updated your course content to reflect current case law, specifically as it relates to the ADAAA and PDA? Because while the ink of the PDA and its many state equivalents is still wet, whether pregnancy (specifically pregnancy-related conditions) can be an ADA-qualifying disability wasn't really determined, but rather clarified. Pregnancy in and of itself is not and has never been a protected class. But now when employment decisions are made based on assumptions about perceived or anticipated limitations related to pregnancy, pregnant employees are now afforded greater legal protection. Throw a little debilitating morning sickness, preeclampsia, or even pregnancy-induced cardiomyopathy into the mix, and you've got yourself a clearcut, textbook example of an employee with an ADA-qualifying disability with whom an employer is now legally obligated to engage in that fun little dog and pony show we call an interactive process.