Did you catch a disease while working as a nurse?

[bronzemint23]

I'm just curious.... how often does it happen that someone catches a disease/illness from a patient while working as a nurse? Just want to know what the risk is like...

[eriksoln, BSN, RN]

As a CNA I once got a bad staph. infection in my arm. It hurt to be honest with you. Went to the ER on a day off, got it drained and started PO antibiotics. That was a few years ago. Nothing after that.

[KaroSnowQueen, RN]

I can't think of anything I can actually say I got from a patient. I have had instances where there was a particulary URI or GI bug going around and got it, but I might have gotten it out in the general population anyway.

[Flare, ASN, BSN]

I was pretty sick in nursing school with an URI that i couldn't shake but since then it's been pretty rare that i've been terribly sick. No chronic diseases caught though, if that's what you meant.

[StNeotser, ASN, RN]

I got norovirus after the bug had been going around for three weeks or so on our unit.

[RNperdiem, RN]

Never. Luckily smoking, obesity, drug abuse, and recklessness are not contagious. Take away those factors and most of us would be out of a hospital job.

[HouTx, BSN, MSN, EdD]

I think that direct care providers have a more robust immune system due to continuous exposure. When I began nursing school, I caught a lot of 'bugs' from patients. But after a couple years, I was much less susceptible. The only thing I still come down with on a regular basis is "crazy" - if I am exposed to whack jobs for any length of time.

I did convert after exposure to TB in my 3rd year of ICU nursing & had to undergo 6 mos of prophylaxis. It's pretty much endemic here in So. Texas, so it isn't unusual. Over the years, I have known 2 nurses who became HIV+ after accidental exposures; both are still OK. I worked with an brand new ER (MD) Resident who contracted fulminating Hepatitis from a patient - & she died in less than 2 weeks. An LVN I worked with was splashed in the face with mucous when she was doing trach care - got a corneal herpes infection & had to eventually have a corneal transplant. A lot of colleagues have discovered that they are now colonized with MRSA - not symptomatic at present, but who knows how it will affect them if they become seriously ill in the future.

[classicdame, MSN, EdD]

after 20+ years the only infection I got was Rotavirus from a 2 month old baby. My fault. He was so cute I just HAD to kiss his cheek.

[oregonchinamom]

I got chicken pox from a patient with shingles when I was 27. Sicker than a dog!

[Elvish, BSN, DNP, RN, NP]

I got plenty of URIs from the snotty-nosed kiddos in the community health center where I used to work. Esp the first year! Nothing serious, though.

I'm quite sure I'll pop up +MRSA in my nares if tested. Went to flush a g-tube once and somehow it popped out and g-tube juice hit me in the face. A couple days letter the lady's on contact for MRSA in - where else? - the g-tube.

[lpnflorida]

Never have caught anything that I am aware of. I suspect like every other nurse who has been in the field for a few years that I would be colonized for MRSA.

[kishinne]

It happens if you had a direct contact with your patients....that is why being in this kind of profession,we really need to be cautious....so far...i haven't been experiencing worst sickness while working in the hospital....