Post-partum/newborn overflow to med surg

Specialties Ob/Gyn

Published

I have seen many issues regarding clean female non-infectious pts overflow to Birthing Center units, but how about.... We have 3 LDRP rooms and often need to use Med-Surg for OUR overflow. There have been issues with our pts sharing bathrooms with c-diff pts, RSV pts, MRSA pts.....Are there anyother RNs out there that are dealing with this? Any guidelines or policies out there that any of you are using? I can easily make one from "Common Sence", but would like to show evidence to back it up. Any ideas? Thank you in advance....

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Specializes in Specializes in L/D, newborn, GYN, LTC, Dialysis.

This is wrong to cohort clean patients who are postpartum (and I assume their BABIES) with people with these infections. What do your OBs and Infection control nurse say of this????

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It was definately an oops by the clinical coordinators and many people were not happy when discovered. There is obviously plans to avoid this at all costs, but unfortunately not everybody thinks like OB/NSY nurses when it comes to these things and they do not always think before they act. This is why I posted this question, because at current time there is no guidline or policy for the clinical supervisors to use. If I make one and put it through the right channels, at least there will be something in writing for the supervisors to use in making their decisions (hopefully).

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Specializes in Specializes in L/D, newborn, GYN, LTC, Dialysis.

I think it would be simple enough to make a policy that pp moms and babies placed on m/s floors NOT EVER be cohorted with people with certain infections. Check with your infection control officer/nurse for assistance with this.

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Specializes in Maternal - Child Health.

Does AWHONN have a staffing or infection control policy that addresses this?

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As far as I have found, AWHONN has a policy/standard that says only clean female, non-infectious women can be cared for in the ob/gyn setting, but I can not seem to find anything about the reverse situation. I would assume that keeping those particular rooms on M/S empty except for clean, non-infectious patients would make those rooms safer for moms and babes. It is amazing at what situations a lack of common sense can get you into!

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Specializes in nicu, L&D, Post Partum.

Wondering what Awhonn has to say about our 'Infectious" mothers in labor

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Specializes in Nurse Manager, Labor and Delivery.

What about infant secuirty on the med/surg floor. How do you handle that??

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It's bad practice to put any pt with an infectious patient, whether it is mother/baby or med-surg. Would someone recovering from a surgery be cohorted with a c-dif or MRSA patient? It's bigger than just floating "clean" pts, it should be a rule for all pts.

Another reason to homebirth, yuck! Can you imagine if you ended up with c-diff postpartum?

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