Bed Bugs

[NurseEmmy]

So I work in an AL facility. We have a resident with a bed bug problem in her apartment. The facility has been "treating" this for 1-2 months now. They have a pest guy come and spray once a week. I have complained about how disgusting this is and how I will be sending them a bill if they should show up at my home. They inform me that the treatment method is slow, but effective. BS. The life cycle is supposedly interrupted, but yet new "baby" bed bugs as well as mature ones keep showing up. This resident has thrown out all of their furniture, but it just doesn't matter.

I've been gone about a week and was hoping things we better under control, but it is worse. A nurse found one on herself after sitting in our nursing office. She also found several bites on her body.

I'm so over this place to begin with, but this is the final straw. I'm doing my best to limit me taking them home, but no matter what there is a risk. Anyone have any tips? They have some spray that we are supposed to spray our pants/shoes with. It supposedly repels them, but the nurse who just found one/was bitten sprays herself frequently and it obviously did nothing to protect her. I am searching for a new job ASAP. This is just the final straw in a series of problems.

[Alex Egan, LPN, EMT-B]

Bed bugs travel and spread by riding in bags, and other "harborages"

your clothing that you have on should be ok. However any bags or items that travel with you from work to home need bagged at the door. Bed bugs can live for 200+ days without food so these items don't become clean for quotes some time.

here is a piece I wrote on bed bugs and how to address them in the summer camp setting

Bed Bugs and Camp Nurses — Campfire Nursing

[NurseEmmy]

Thank you for the link. I am doing everything I can think of to limit my brining them home. I no longer bring my bag of stuff to work. I change my clothes in my unattached garage. I leave my shoes at work and change into flip flops before I leave, which then stay in the garage as well. My employer doesn't seem too concerned about it, mainly because they haven't migrated to the Admin's office yet. I bet when that happens they will ramp up the effort to clear these blood suckers out.

Meanwhile I am grossed out and paranoid.

[YoutubeTheNP]

Forget spraying. You need to bomb the place and smoke them to death. Spray is not effective method as demonstrated.

[Alex Egan, LPN, EMT-B]

Personally I'm a huge fan of heating. If there is an exterminator in your area that does this it's very effective and takes about two hours.

[carolinapooh, BSN, RN]

Bombing is just a high-powered spray. Since bedbugs do not self groom (I've had a run in with them myself), bombing is ineffective.

They're killed by heat and freezing.

[carolinapooh, BSN, RN]

Thank you for the link. I am doing everything I can think of to limit my brining them home. I no longer bring my bag of stuff to work. I change my clothes in my unattached garage. I leave my shoes at work and change into flip flops before I leave, which then stay in the garage as well. My employer doesn't seem too concerned about it, mainly because they haven't migrated to the Admin's office yet. I bet when that happens they will ramp up the effort to clear these blood suckers out.

Meanwhile I am grossed out and paranoid.

If they're well fed they might not migrate. But they can hitch a ride home on someone's clothes and get in their car...I know someone that had a car infested with them. Lovely.

[Guttercat, ASN, RN]

Eeeewww. This thread is making me all sorts of itchy scratchy. :)

[carolinapooh, BSN, RN]

Eeeewww. This thread is making me all sorts of itchy scratchy. :)

Yeah, it was gross. They didn't itch, though - they burned like wildfire. Mine were swollen and full of fluid (I had huge patches on my arms, face, and legs) so if I'd scratched I would've dug them open.

The NP at the UCC and then my doc back at home both said it was the worst allergic reaction they'd ever seen. It took ten days, two steroid tapers, multiple antihistimines, and two Decadron injections for them to go away. Now I'm completely paranoid in a hotel (and this was a NICE hotel, for the record)!

[carolinapooh, BSN, RN]

And I can't eat Rice Krispies any more. I hear that sound in my head like them biting me. I know that's ridiculous but that's what I hear when I think about what those big patches of bites looked like.

[SummitRN, BSN, RN]

Bed bugs? You have two choices:

A:

B:

[RainMom]

I didn't think the spray kills the eggs; you have to vacuum them up. Also, if the infestation is severe enough, the bugs will not just live in the furniture but in the crevices of baseboards, carpeting, etc.

Administration will likely pay more attention when families start complaining. Residents pay $5000 or more for the average ALF each month; they deserve a pest free home.