Nurses with kids during this COVID season

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My husband and I both work in healthcare and don’t live near family. We’ve had to put our kids back in daycare full time after 7 weeks out because my work said I had to come back to work full time or resign my position. Now that I’ve sent my kids back to daycare, there are all these news reports about kids and Pediatric Inflammatory Multisystem Syndrome. Now I am worried that I shouldn’t have sent them back and I’m really terrified about what to do. I cry every day about it. If I stop working we’d go to a paycheck to paycheck situation because my husbands work has been furloughing or cutting pay for their employees. We have a substantial amount in savings, but I also don’t want to burn through that. What are other nurses doing with their kids right now? How are you all feeling?

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Would you be paycheck to paycheck if your husband quit to stay home with the kiddos?

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My husband actually makes more than me so that option doesn’t work ?

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Specializes in adult ICU.

Hi, friend! I also have several kids and no family nearby, and a high-risk husband who's been able to work from home. I've taken an unpaid leave of absence from work and am starting grad school in the fall (loans will provide extra help at this time). It was a tough choice, but at the end of the day, minimizing my family's potential for exposure had to take priority. With the reduction in income, we've become eligible for free health insurance thru Obamacare, albeit with a high deductible. Other than that, I plan on being thrifty and continuing to monitor the situation. I have saved and made provisions for a rainy day which, alas, is here. I'd review your organization's policies with regards to unpaid personal leave and whatever programs and resources you can access with a reduction in household income. Some will judge us, but family safety comes first.

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