Nurse calls in because of herpes outbreak

[nurseby07]

My good friend is a charge nurse at the hospital I used to work at. She told me that a nurse called in sick because he had a herpes outbreak (genital). What the blank? Is that legitimate? I think I would rather have made something up like a cold rather than that..

[MassED, BSN, RN]

So true, so true. I personally don't need to hear anything involving someone's gentalia. Just a "I am sick and won't be able to come in" would suffice.

where I have worked, you can't just say you're sick, there must be a reason.

[MassED, BSN, RN]

whether his herpes is common knowledge or not it should not have been shared especially by management. bottom line......herpes IS isolated in hospitals....he is a risk to any patient he takes care of. the virus sheds regardless of any precautions he might take.

well, now who would know who has genital herpes walking around among you at work? There might be many patients at risk, all of the time. Are we expecting those with active outbreaks not to come to work and isolate themselves at home? What about coldsores? And not to be silly, but if it's genital, the virus shedding is enclosed, no? Not shedding outwardly and exposed to other people? This would be comparable to a staff person with a MRSA abscess that is somewhere under the scrubs... precautions are taken for those with MRSA, so what then?

[ThatPoshGirl]

where I have worked, you can't just say you're sick, there must be a reason.

I really think this should be illegal. It shouldn't matter why you are sick! That is no one's business but your own. I can see requiring a doctor's note, although only at companies that provide medical insurance for their employees.

[MassED, BSN, RN]

I really think this should be illegal. It shouldn't matter why you are sick! That is no one's business but your own. I can see requiring a doctor's note, although only at companies that provide medical insurance for their employees.

I do agree. With the call out form, there has what I can only guess as "approved" reasons? of +fever, +diarrhea, +vomiting... I think those were the only ones. The other portion on there was "did the employee call in themselves." I wonder if that is to see a pattern... I'm not sure, but I do agree with you. When I enter the discharge instructions in the computer system, and add a work note. It'll have "reason for not being at work/school" and I just type "seen in ER" - where I know other nurses provide what their diagnosis was... um, not for us to divulge!

[BlueEyedRN]

The last hospital i worked in wouldn't let you give a reason for calling in sick. If you started to explain yourself, they would cut you off. They said there are a million reasons to call in sick and if you feel like you have one of them, it is none of their business and they don't want you coming in. It was wonderful. If you called in excessively, of course, they would talk to you about it, but they knew that everyone needs mental health days every once in a while. At the hospital I work now, if you call in sick, there is a chance they will call back in a couple of hours to see if you can make it after all. So frustrating.

[justme1972]

well, now who would know who has genital herpes walking around among you at work? There might be many patients at risk, all of the time. Are we expecting those with active outbreaks not to come to work and isolate themselves at home? What about coldsores? And not to be silly, but if it's genital, the virus shedding is enclosed, no? Not shedding outwardly and exposed to other people? This would be comparable to a staff person with a MRSA abscess that is somewhere under the scrubs... precautions are taken for those with MRSA, so what then?

Our hospital has the DUMBEST "cold sore" policy, if you get one, you can't work for 48 hours....however, anyone who knows anything about them knows that the cells "shed" for 3 to 4 days before the outbreak, they can take up to 21 days to heal, and are still contagious up to 48 hours after healing.

You would think someone would have researched that first.

[gentle]

i read somewhere recently that the only difference between type i and type ii is that type i hangs out in the upper part of the spinal cord, and type ii hangs out in the lower part of the spinal cord, which explains where they break out.

the same article explained that it was silly that society treated people with type ii so differently than the millions more that has type i, because under an electron microscope, the virus is virtually identical.

hopefull2009,

that was the same thing i was taught. however, as different patients came through at work a few questions were raised. i decided to do a bit of investigating; this is what i learned from the cdc. i was very surprised.

genital herpes - cdc fact sheet

genital herpes is a sexually transmitted disease (std) caused by the herpes simplex viruses type 1 (hsv-1) or type 2 (hsv-2). most genital herpes is caused by hsv-2. most individuals have no or only minimal signs or symptoms from hsv-1 or hsv-2 infection. when signs do occur, they typically appear as one or more blisters on or around the genitals or rectum. the blisters break, leaving tender ulcers (sores) that may take two to four weeks to heal the first time they occur. typically, another outbreak can appear weeks or months after the first, but it almost always is less severe and shorter than the first outbreak. although the infection can stay in the body indefinitely, the number of outbreaks tends to decrease over a period of years.

http://www.cdc.gov/std/herpes/stdfact-herpes.htm

[Babs0512]

That is correct, but you can also have Type 1 (typically cold sores) on the mouth OR genitals and the same with Type 2 (typically genital, but can be found on the mouth).

It's also possible to auto infect other areas of the body, for instance, touching your cold sore and then tending a cut on your ankle, you can then break out on your ankle.

When you get out of the shower, if you have a breakout, use a separate towel to dry your genitals than the rest of your body. And for goodness sake, keep your hands away from your eyes!

[ThatPoshGirl]

That is correct, but you can also have Type 1 (typically cold sores) on the mouth OR genitals and the same with Type 2 (typically genital, but can be found on the mouth).

It's also possible to auto infect other areas of the body, for instance, touching your cold sore and then tending a cut on your ankle, you can then break out on your ankle.

When you get out of the shower, if you have a breakout, use a separate towel to dry your genitals than the rest of your body. And for goodness sake, keep your hands away from your eyes!

You can also give someone genital herpes if you perform oral sex with a cold sore.

[sjt9721, BSN, RN]

where I have worked, you can't just say you're sick, there must be a reason.

I understand having to give a reason. I called in once with "GI issues" or "GI upset", I can't remember exactly what I called it. But I was trying to give my reason without sharing too much. (And this was my first time in 4 years calling in.)

Well, this particular house supervisor assumed I was having cramps and suggested I take "Advil or something". I then told her I was having N/V/D...she proceeds to berate me for not being able to handle "a little nausea".

What she didn't know was that I was in the bathroom during the call...and had the phone on speaker...:barf01:

Let's just say my final "words" convinced her!

[Babs0512]

That is correct poshgirl!

[suanna]

Maybe honesty isn't always the best policy!! I think I would call off dead before I'd call off with genital herpes!! I am told, if the flare is bad, that the pain can be disabling. You have to give her KUDOS for honesty- and who is going to check up to see is it was true!? I don't think the employee health department wants that job.