OMG-OMG-OMG ROACHES!!

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Specializes in Pediatric Private Duty; Camp Nursing.

I started a new case last week, an adorable little baby w CF. The parents are young and very nice, but the kitchen is crawling with roaches!!! They were even on the neb and GT equipment that was left on a towel drying! I spoke to the clinical manager, who has heard that from the other nurses as well. She didn't have too much to offer on how to remedy the situation. They live in an apartment. Is the landlord responsible for getting an exterminator? Can we get the agency to pay? This family is of meager means. It's a nice case in every other way, but roaches are a deal-breaker for me. What can I do?

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Specializes in NICU, ICU, PICU, Academia.

The landlord is responsible- and sometimes your care manager can light a fire under them. As can the safe housing council in your area. If they are Section 8- the landlord can really be in trouble if it continues.

Are there REASONS for the roaches- such as food left out/ open?

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Specializes in Peds(PICU, NICU float), PDN, ICU.

Been there, done that. Sorry :-(

Even if the family is clean, the neighbors might not be. Or the complex is infested. The complex must use an exterminator. There are minimum standards for housing. Also, this is a safety issue and infection control issue. I've seen roaches crawling on cribs and towards trachs.

Make sure you don't bring home any "pets". They are sneaky little pests. Look out for your health as well. I've developed an allergy to roaches, probably due to repeated exposure.

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Specializes in Pediatric Private Duty; Camp Nursing.

I spoke to the mom, she says the people below have them. (Never mind that the same dishes that were in the sink 10 days ago are still there, in the same position.) I told her that her landlord should be hiring and paying for an exterminator, and that she should tell that landlord that the roaches were crawling on her special-needs-daughter's nebulizer equipment. I also told her that if she gets nowhere w her landlord, our agency could help out. So we're going from there.

Now if only we could do something about the horrible stench of second-hand smoke and cat urine. I feel bad bc this is an otherwise pleasant case, the parents are nice and the baby is adorable. I started this case 2 weeks ago, I go three days/week and I already dread it all day before I go. I'm suffocating. :(

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One irritant at a time! Ha, ha! Can you position a fan or air cleaner to circulate the air away from the patient (and yourself)? Believe it or not, I have brought my own personal table-top/floor fan and used it at cases (where there was no air conditioning), and I was going to buy an air cleaner and use it with one case. I spoke to the mom about it and she did not mind, but I transferred off that case before I could invest in the air cleaner. I was planning on getting one for my own use anyway since a neighbor's smoke irritates me. Cat urine, ugghh. More ingenuity required there.

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Specializes in Peds(PICU, NICU float), PDN, ICU.

I've brought roach gel in the little syringe to work. It's better than nothing. A few places that I have worked have had it sitting in the paperwork box. Nurses buy it and leave it in the box for everyone. The family usually doesn't know. Sometimes the agency will pay for an exterminator. Most agencies put back a little money for things like this.

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I would be tempted to offer to pay for an exterminator one time myself, but would attempt to keep this type of info from the agency, because the same agency personnel that won't lift a little finger to do something within their own purview will pounce on a nurse for crossing boundaries. If they have me working 40 hours a week in the same room with the patient and a roach infestation, somebody is going to exterminate, even if it is me paying for it, or I will be leaving the case. It is not fair to me or anyone else that could be allergic to roaches to have to work in that kind of environment.

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Specializes in Pediatrics.

OP, are you me?! I had a similar problem last year if you want to read the thread: https://allnurses.com/private-duty-nursing/roaches-on-the-908075.html

Long story short, it was gov't housing and no one wanted to do anything, so I approached my company's HR to discuss liability, and miraculously my agency sent people in to clean, and shortly thereafter the child was removed to a nurse-staffed foster home.

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