Nasty virus and upcoming NICU rotation!

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I have been coughing for over a week. It's getting worse. I DID go see the doctor so I am not looking for medical advice. He said it's viral, my lungs are clear, and I'll just have to let it run it's course. However, as bad as I sound I just don't see how anyone would want me around little babies. I have another week before I get my schedule for clinicals so hopefully it will go away by then. But, what do you do if you're sick with a cough like this? I'm not too sick to go to clinicals, what do you nurses do when you're sick with a lingering virus? Surely you can't call out of work sick for 2 weeks? Right now just saying my prayers that it will be gone before clinicals actually start. I'm thinking of wearing a mask at my labs this weekend so I don't make anyone else sick.

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You do just that. Wear a mask and take a cough suppressant.

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Specializes in NICU, PICU, PACU.

You will have to mask from the time you walk in until you leave. Be extra careful with hand washing and don't touch your face. We only call out if we have a fever.

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Specializes in L&D, infusion, urology.

Yup, mask, cough suppressant, hand washing. You'll be fine. :) I think we all had it happen once in school at some point!

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Specializes in Oncology/hematology.

Some of my patients are immunocompromised, so I just wear a mask, and lots of hand hygiene.

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Thank you all so much. I wasn't sure if a mask and hand hygiene would be enough. I'm going to feel kind of silly, but rather feel silly than make anyone sick.

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Specializes in Oncology/hematology.

It does feel silly, but don't worry. Better to be safe (for them) than sorry. I just explained it the first time I walked into each of their rooms. They kind of laughed, and we got on with our day.

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I have been coughing for over a week. It's getting worse. I DID go see the doctor so I am not looking for medical advice. He said it's viral, my lungs are clear, and I'll just have to let it run it's course. However, as bad as I sound I just don't see how anyone would want me around little babies. I have another week before I get my schedule for clinicals so hopefully it will go away by then. But, what do you do if you're sick with a cough like this? I'm not too sick to go to clinicals, what do you nurses do when you're sick with a lingering virus? Surely you can't call out of work sick for 2 weeks? Right now just saying my prayers that it will be gone before clinicals actually start. I'm thinking of wearing a mask at my labs this weekend so I don't make anyone else sick.

I would discuss it with your instructor in addition to wearing a mask. I was recently ill with something similar on my scheduled pediatric oncology rotation and I was supposed to care for a cancer patient on neutrophil count recovery post chemo. Not a good mix with my hacking! I was able to switch with another student and went to the ER instead where I saw a ton of patients experiencing the same nasty bug. I did end up going to NICU when I was better so I didn't miss out on the experience. Sometimes I find that it's better to discuss the issues first rather than just "covering it up" with a mask. If I were a parent of a NICU baby and saw someone there that was coughing up a storm I'd be pretty upset where they had a mask on or not. I would rather not potentially compromise one of those little babies. Masks don't protect from everything. Hope ya feel better soon!!

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