Breastfeeding moms who work on busy units

NurseyBaby'05, BSN, RN · Jun 19, 2007

Why punish the rest of the staff instead of the one who abused the generosity of others? The fact that she was pumping was secondary to the fact that she was using her co-workers, not the reason for it. If she had not been pumping, she would have found another reason to get off the floor. That being said, if the staff on your unit continually never gets breaks, the problem isn't with a breastfeeding co-worker. It's with how the unit is run overall. Pre-baby I would take a "smoke break". People didn't like this because I didn't smoke, but if they could make the time and get covered, so could I. I often listen for my co-workers to they can get off the floor for fifteen minutes, whatever the reason. Just because we're nurses, martyrdom is not a requirement of the profession. That notion needs to be buried once and for all. Nobody should be expected to work an entire shift without a break.

Of course, you're going to have days where the poop hits the fan continually and sometimes can't get away, but it shouldn't be an everyday occurence. I can see it now. "Sorry, Mrs. Smith, I can't do the Heimlich on your choking husband right now, I have to go pump. But I'll be right back. . . . :lol2: " If it is an everyday occurence, your problem isn't with breastfeeding, smoking, hula dancing, monkeydancing?:monkeydance: co-workers. Also, they should be willing to return the favor. If you find yourself continually covering for someone that always winds up being "too busy" to listen for your pt's for a short while in return, that's not right.

NurseyBaby'05, BSN, RN · Jun 19, 2007

Like I said, there's no clearcut solution. On our unit we have had one nurse abuse the pumping thing. My goodness, she was still taking two pump breaks when her kid was 5! He also would just open up her shirt during staff meetings to help himself!

Whaat . . . .? If she's nursing her toddler, I don't have a problem with that per se, but why, for heaven's sake, was her child allowed to be present during staff meetings let alone disrupt them? That is unacceptable! After rereading your post, it is looking more and more like there is a spineless management issue going on at your job as oppossed to a breastfeeding/non-breastfeeding issue. It wouldn't even occur to me to think it was okay to bring my child to a staff meeting at my job. (Or to any other part of my job while I was working, for that matter.)

Athenas83 · Jun 19, 2007

I think it's so good that you all have/are breastfeeding! I think its importance is far more than a recommendation.

Don't worry about people *thinking* you're taking advantage.

Leomom · Jun 19, 2007

My best advice would be to check the laws in regards to breastfeeding in your state. The laws vary from state to state but I know here in Tennessee an employer is required to give you a private area & not a bathroom stall to pump in unpaid but the law requires it. Most states I believe have something similar to this.

TazziRN, RN · Jun 19, 2007

Like I said, there's no clearcut solution. On our unit we have had one nurse abuse the pumping thing. My goodness, she was still taking two pump breaks when her kid was 5! He also would just open up her shirt during staff meetings to help himself! The smokers are just as bad, and should not get breaks if others don't. I just don't feel obligated to work extra so that somone else can breastfeed. If nurses on your units always get their break times, and if some choose to pump during those breaks, I think that's great. But if there's only enough coverage for the pumpers to get breaks, then it's not right.

A) I'm sorry that you've had a bad experience with one mom, but why apply that to the rest of us? And if she was still nursing him at 5, how is that abusing it?

B) Why does it cause extra work if someone has to pump? If I find my own relief or if I go when it's quiet enough, how does that cause extra work? And when did anyone say that pumpers get breaks that other staff don't get?

TazziRN, RN · Jun 19, 2007

Whaat . . . .? If she's nursing her toddler I don't have a problem with that per se, but why, for heaven's sake, was her child allowed to be present during staff meetings let alone disrupt them? That is unacceptable! After rereading your post, it is looking more and more like there is a spinleess management issue going on at your job as oppossed to a breastfeeding/non-breastfeeding issue. It wouldn't even occur to me to think it was okay to bring my child to a staff meeting at my job. (Or to any other part of my job while I was working, for that matter.)[/quote']
It's not okay for a child to disrupt a staff meeting but in all my years of working I've never had a manager who had a problem with people bringing their children to meetings if no sitter was available.

tntrn, ASN, RN · Jun 19, 2007

A) I'm sorry that you've had a bad experience with one mom, but why apply that to the rest of us? And if she was still nursing him at 5, how is that abusing it?
B) Why does it cause extra work if someone has to pump? If I find my own relief or if I go when it's quiet enough, how does that cause extra work? And when did anyone say that pumpers get breaks that other staff don't get?

I don't quite understand why one nursing a 5 year old would still need to be pumping. Or maybe I don't understand why a 5 year old is still nursing. She abused it, and she abused us by leaving all her equipment out on the counters in the nursing station. We'd move them, but she just wanted it to be obvious to one and all. That's just part of the story.

It is extra work when staff is so busy that breaks are almost impossible to get. If a manager or "extra" nurse comes on shifts like that to give the pumper a pump break, but no breaks are provided for the regular staff, then it's extra work and special treatment is being provided for one but not all.

It doesn't happen all the time and some would never consider behaving in that manner, so I'm not putting all of you in that category. Perhaps you are far more considerate than that. It sounds like you are. But to make a big deal about having to pump and making it the responsbility of the entire staff to see that it gets to happen is a problem for me.

TazziRN, RN · Jun 19, 2007

Whatever the reason that mom was still nursing a 5-yr-old is known only to her, as well as the pumping question. That is pretty old and there is no need for it, but it was her choice. She did not abuse the practice just by nursing her 5-yr-old, unless there's something that's been left out. The other stuff you mentioned is abusive, you're right.

Nobody here said anything about getting pump breaks when it was so busy that no one else got a break. I'm sorry if that happened to you, but it didn't happen when I worked. The same people who relieved me so I could pump also came and relieved the rest of the staff if it was so busy we couldn't cover for each other. And when did I or anyone else say it was the responsibility of the rest of the staff to see that moms got pump breaks? All I said was that my coworkers always made sure I got the breaks, just like I made sure the nurse who had her baby last year got her pump breaks. I can see why it would be a problem for you if the pumping moms you work(ed) with caused problems, but the OP wanted to know if breastfeeding after returning to work is do-able, and we all told her it was. It is very do-able if everyone is willing to work together.

It doesn't happen all the time and some would never consider behaving in that manner, so I'm not putting all of you in that category.

But that's exactly what you did! Because of this woman and her 5-yr-old, you lumped us all in the same category as her. Because she abused the system in place, you implied that we all do. Believe me, she is not the norm.

allnurses Guide · Jun 19, 2007

. . " If it is an everyday occurance your problem isn't with breastfeeding, smoking, hula dancing, monkeydancing?:monkeydance: co-workers. Also, they should be willing to return the favor. If you find yourself continually covering for someone that always winds up being "too busy" to listen for your pt's for a short while in return, that's not right.[/quote']
:rotfl:
steph

MarySunshine · Jun 19, 2007

I just want to say that it's pathetic that so many of us are used to NOT getting our entitled breaks. If I actually GOT my two fifteen minute breaks in addition to my lunch, I would not have had to ask this question.

tntrn, ASN, RN · Jun 19, 2007

I just want to say that it's pathetic that so many of us are used to NOT getting our entitled breaks. If I actually GOT my two fifteen minute breaks in addition to my lunch, I would not have had to ask this question.

And that's really the underlying foundation of my contribution to this discussion I suppose. If any of us actually got our breaks and lunch, we'd all be happier. I could go two blocks over on my lunch break and fondle fabric. The smokers could go smoke, the dancers could go dance and the breastfeeders could pump. You're right about it. Which comes back to this for me: singling out any one of the above groups, (not trying to exclude other groups ) is not a good thing. Everyone should get a break; what we do with it is our business and should be kept that way.

TazziRN, RN · Jun 19, 2007

Okay, now that you put it that way your feelings are a lot more understandable, TNT. In your first posts it sounded like you were against breastfeeding moms. Now I understand where you're coming from. At the place I was working when I had my last one, breaks were never an issue, we got them. The house supes (most of them) were really good about relieving for breaks for everyone the majority of the time. There were times when it was too busy for breaks but it didn't happen often and in those cases we made sure the pumping moms still got their pump breaks. That was not the moms expecting or demanding it, that was the rest of the staff looking out for them. I guess I was extremely lucky that I worked where I did.