Hey Kday, OBnurse Heather and others

[Q.]

There is an interesting thread in the General discussion about leeches of society. Somehow, the topic got thrown off course and I am in a debate with another nurse about whether a woman who had conceived as a result of abuse or rape is a Labor and Delivery nurse's business. I think it is, and my reply was posted as such.

I guess I was wondering if I am alone in this thought. On my unit, we like to know these things for obvious reasons. This person called me a "supposed nurse" and now I feel like I am second-quessing myself. Thoughts?

[mzjennifer]

Originally posted by doj

We do about 120 del a year and so they are wanting to make us take Med/Surg pts as well as OB pts when we have 1-2 PP Moms and babys. We don't want to but how do we convince them that it is a bad idea???? We've tried but it has been to no avail......any suggestions:rolleyes:

We do about 60-70 deliveries per month. We rotate on our floor only (unless you WANT to go to another floor when it's slow): L&D, mom/baby, and post-op/gyn (clean surgeries/medsurg pts only).

What you can do to help convince them that it's a bad idea:

1. You cannot cross contaminate between mom/baby to med/surg pts - occasionally we do that, if we only have one med/surg pt and a few mom/babies - then that floor nurse gets all of those pts. BUT - if we have 2, 3 or more med/surg pts, then one nurse gets those pts ONLY.

2. You cannot keep your uniform uncontaminated by working med/surg, so therefore, you cannot take any c/s pt or labor pt that walks in the door. We are pretty strict on this - even if you leave the floor, you MUST cover your uniform with a cover gown while off the floor, in case you circulate for a c/s later in the shift, or have a L&D pt come in.

3. If you take any med/surg pts on your floor - they MUST be clean - no infections, pneumonias, c diff, cellulitis, etc, must have had CLEAN surgical procedures (hysterectomy, urological surgeries, lap/open chole, lap appendectomies, etc).

4. Examples of ok medical pts that we take are also: diabetics (stable, not brittle), some asthmatics, leg emboli, etc. NO LEVEL OF CONSCIOUS CHANGE/DEMENTIA PTS.

Hope this helps some...our policy is pretty clear on who we can and cannot accept as a med/surg pt.

Personally, I wish we only took GYN surgical patients...after all, we ARE an OB/GYN floor.

Jennifer