Pregnancy is not a disease!!! (vent)

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I am so upset right now:angryfire I work as a PCT in a busy ER on the weekends. There is a girl who found out she is pregnant a couple of months ago, and now she thinks that's an excuse not to do her share of the work. We have 22 er rooms in which we have 3 PCT's to cover 2 in the back splitting rooms and 1 in triage. Last night the pregnant tech who is 4-5 months pregnant (3rd child by the way) would not empty her laundry bags or help take her admitted patients upstaris! Now I understand if you have complications then you should be at home or on light duty, not in the er where it is very busy for you to just fold your arms and ignore your work!. I had to take her patients up and mine and still maintain the care for my own pts. I am not the one who got her pregnant if she feels she can't carry out her duties then maybe she and the baby's father need to work it out where she can stay at home, because employers are to treat you like any other employee who is not pregnant.:madface:

I hope I don't come off sounding mean but that's how I feel, I have two kids of my own and worked very hard with both until it was time for me to deliver with no mercy:trout:. You do what you got to do!

Specializes in ER, Occupational Medicine.

OMG! I have so much more to say but I will keep it breif. First I do not think my attitude towards my co-worker has nothing to do with how I will treat my pts in the future b/c they need my help and that is my duty as a nurse, however to do all the work in the er is not my duty. I understand that people have other things going on in their plate, I get that, but it is up to her to get a note from her doctor for restricted duty if aval, so that mgmt can get an able body in that can work and she could be float. The op added maybe switch duties I totally agree if I take all pts up maybe she can stock all the rooms but nope she just does hers and stop, and speaking of being a nurse my pts are lacking b/c I can't respond to them quickly b/c I'm running around like a chicken with it's head chopped off trying to do everything!:nono:So will I be a good nurse, YEP you bet and I take anyone's side male or female if their right.

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I've had that frustration before. It is impossible to do two person's work. It's hard enough sometimes to do all that you have to do in a shift. Helping out a pregnant coworker who needs it is no different than helping out anyone else. It has to go both ways or it will create hard feelings in the unit.

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Specializes in ER, Occupational Medicine.
And she shouldn't be working in an environment that requires such, either.

I know life is hard, but if I were in a position I didn't feel I could handle I'd be down at the food stamp office and trying to get short-term disability. It's not a dig at the pregnant woman, at the same time, there is work that has to be done and it unfairly puts others at risk having to carry the extra burden.

Hello and thank-you, she is not a high risk preg to my knowledge, but if she were and was keeping it a secret, how about pulling me to the side and saying hey I know I can't do such and such but if you will help I'll do all the such and such, just don't assume I'm obligated to do everything for you. I'm an understanding person who is willing to help but not be used. I have two kids and husband to go home to and I need energy to take them on (HELLO):uhoh3:

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Specializes in Med-Surg, Wound Care.
Women don't always have husbands or boyfriends to make money for them so most have to work while pregnant.

OK, I'll say it....then don't get pregnant. If you want a child and don't want to do your job while pregnant, then you have to plan for that. That is not your coworkers responsibility to make up for what you can't do in a job that you KNOW has specific requirements.

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Wow, sure is nice to know that we live in a supportive world. Plain laziness is not acceptable at work, but to tell someone not to have kids?!! You don't know their situation.

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Specializes in Perinatal, Education.
Wow, sure is nice to know that we live in a supportive world. Plain laziness is not acceptable at work, but to tell someone not to have kids?!! You don't know their situation.

I think what was being pointed out is that pregnancy is, generally, a choice. It doesn't happen unless you choose to put yourself in a situation where it can (is that delicate enough for a post?). If you have no spouse, SO, or support or job you can do while pregnant then maybe the choice needs to be made to not get pregnant at that time. No judgement was being made about should they have kids at all.

I work in OB, and I could write dozens of posts about the situations I send new babies home to all of the time. I agree that people need to be a bit more choosy about when and with whom they get pregnant. JMHO.

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OK, I'll say it....then don't get pregnant. If you want a child and don't want to do your job while pregnant, then you have to plan for that. That is not your coworkers responsibility to make up for what you can't do in a job that you KNOW has specific requirements.

I am poor myself but I know what you mean. My sister chose to be a single mom but she had an excellent job as an executive and had no trouble paying for sitters. She didn't even qualify for WIC and bought that expensive formula off the shelf...that's uptown in my book.

I can't afford not to work but I can say I've never asked or expected someone to do my job. In fact, I was a CNA with my first pregnancy and whenever I'd go to lift something someone would usually stop me and insist on doing it themselves. I have to say, lifting during a normal uneventful pregnancy is perfectly appropriate, though with my last one I was like a turtle on its back, it was a monumental effort to pick something off the floor. Luckily the majority of my job is sitting and paperwork.

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I work in OB, and I could write dozens of posts about the situations I send new babies home to all of the time. I agree that people need to be a bit more choosy about when and with whom they get pregnant. JMHO.

I know what you mean. When I had my first ultrasound done with my last baby there was another woman who came out before I went in and I heard her talking to her friend. She said, "I'm farther along than I thought, I'm not 6 weeks pregnant I'm 8 weeks, that means it's not John's baby, it's JT's!":uhoh3:

Anyone know when the next episode of Jerry Springer is coming on?

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Oh, I completely agree that ppl should be careful about when and with whom they have children. That is another story completely, but there is a limited time when a woman can get pregnant. I would not put off my dream of having a child b/c someone at work is going to be inconvenienced, I'm sorry. Now, as said before lazy is unacceptable. I am 8 months preg now, and in the beginning I had complications of bleeding, and spotting, but I had to keep my job. There was no way I could predict that that was going to happen, but it's always a possibility. You can't always just wait until the perfect time. Maybe if we went back to being more family oriented instead of job oriented our children would turn out better. No one or nothing comes before the well being of my children.

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Have you talked to the charge nurse or even the department manager about this. If you are getting behind because you are picking up her slack, point it out to the charge nurse "in the moment." Point out that you are behind and then suggest that while you are taking up one of "Madonna's" patient perhaps Madonna could stock some of your rooms to help you get caught up. The charge nurse hopefully wants to keep the unit running as smoothly as possible and shouldn't have a problem delegating some of your less strenuous tasks to the other CNA.

I know the type of person you are talking about and if the problem isn't addressed she will continue to do as little work as possible.

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Specializes in Acute Hemodialysis, Cardiac, ICU, OR.
I am 26 and have never been pregnant before, and I definitely have seen people use pregnancy as an excuse (and have actually worked with people who were faking pregnancy and trying to get on light duty) but I do think that since procreation is a fact of life, that there should be provisions for women who have to work while pregnant.

Men don't get pregnant of course, and as part of our place in life, we do; it's not right that we should have to handle it on our own. Women don't always have husbands or boyfriends to make money for them so most have to work while pregnant. Maybe America has such a bad trend of pre-term labor because of the attitude so many people have toward pregnant women and working conditions.

I know the extra work sucks sometimes when working with a pregnant co-worker, but most of the pregnant women I have worked with really do try and I definitely DID NOT let them carry anything heavy if I could help it.

I have seen what can happen first hand: A good friend and co-worker was forced to work online with me in a factory. She was pregnant with twins and was having a terribly difficult time. She pleaded with our employer and her doctor to put her on light duty but both declined to do so. She started having problems while she was online and went home sick, and all the while I heard several people complaining that she was "milking it" and "just being lazy" and asserting their various unneeded opinions. Two days later she gave birth to her twin girls at 25-26 weeks. Both girls narrowly survived but after many heart surgeries and lots of lung troubles. It is still unknown as to whether or not they will have any developmental issues or not.:o

She didn't have a choice to just "stay home." She had another child to take care of and a house payment.

I'm not saying you're wrong about your coworker though, I know those people are out there, just saying that we really don't know the plight of others, and even if some people can work up to the hour they deliver, others might not safely be able to.

I didn't think a pregnant woman should lift more than 20 lbs anyway...if your co-worker is 4-5 months pregnant, she probably shouldn't be lifting laundry or patients.:)

Oh, dear. You sound like one of my husband's employees... While she is single and never had children, one of the other techs was pregnant with her second child (the first tech had talked this tech into training for this position). She became very overly involved and consistently declared loudly that, because second tech was pregnant, she should have the easiest assignments and work the fewest hours, and that everyone should jump in and offer her breaks (they work in the OR). This did not improve after delivery, because now she wants special treatment due to her breastfeeding and her hesitance to hire regular childcare. Even though there are numerous opportunities for her to take 15-20 minute breaks for pumping, first tech has put it in second tech's head that she should be able to leave the building to do so! Additionally, these techs work 2-3 days per week at most (but get paid for 40 hours), and most of their cases are less than 3 hours. Second tech's husband is a firefighter, meaning he works 24 hour shifts a couple times a week, so she has been playing roulette and just hoping that she and he don't have to work on the same days, and she thinks this is adequate childcare. Twice so far they have had to both work and she has had to scramble to find someone to watch her children, and she has tried to get someone to cover those cases for her. However, at this point she has burned everyone else so no one wants to help her anymore.

My feeling is this: There are plenty of desk jobs out there, both in and out of healthcare. If you really feel that you can not do the job in which you are currently employed throughout your pregnancy, then you need to transfer to another position. She knew what the job was when she accepted it and began to train for it... and as it turned out, she was already pregnant then, and knew it -- just didn't tell the boss.

There is a huge difference between asking for help from your friends and family on your own time, and expecting your coworkers to do your job for you while you sit and collect a paycheck.

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Specializes in ER, Occupational Medicine.
Have you talked to the charge nurse or even the department manager about this. If you are getting behind because you are picking up her slack, point it out to the charge nurse "in the moment." Point out that you are behind and then suggest that while you are taking up one of "Madonna's" patient perhaps Madonna could stock some of your rooms to help you get caught up. The charge nurse hopefully wants to keep the unit running as smoothly as possible and shouldn't have a problem delegating some of your less strenuous tasks to the other CNA.

I know the type of person you are talking about and if the problem isn't addressed she will continue to do as little work as possible.

The charge nurse(one of them) is fully aware of the situation and promotes it at times:angryfire, however I am thinking about taking it to the er manager so something can be done about it.

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