pregnant flight nurses

[CaliRN29]

I was offered a flight nurse position but would like to be pregnant soon and wanted to get everyones feedback on how well (or not so well) that might work?

[rghbsn, BSN, RN]

It's not something I would advertise right away...you will be able to fly fairly late into your pregnancy depending on a few factors:

1: Your physical ability to do the job. Some women get airsick easier, the obvious change in center of gravity can be less than ideal, you will have lifting limitations that get more strict as you progress.

2: Your physician's recommendations. If they are unfamiliar with what you really do, they may not put restrictions on flight/lifting early enough to protect you. Or they may restrict you more strictly and sooner than needed because they are nervous about the whole thing...could keep you out of work longer than you want to be.

3: Depending on how long you take maternity leave, you could very well have to repeat a truncated orientation because of the amount of time you've been gone.

Good luck, but I really think the end decision is yours to make...how do you feel about it? Some folks don't care to fly after having children (men or women) because of the inherent risks of the job.

In the end, I think everything happens for a reason...if you take this job or don't.

Legally, they can't retract an offer because of your plan to get pregnant. I do think that it's fair to expect to get a good nurse out of the effort to train you. If you have an 8-12 week orientation and you want to be pregnant in the next 6 months, I would say don't take the job. It won't do you or the team any good...they'll still be down a nurse after orienting you. If you can wait and get a year or so of time under your belt, I think that's more fair for both parties.

[tewdles, RN]

I flew late into my first pregnancy. Increased air sickness was problematic in the first trimester but I managed to get through it. In my eigth month I tore the ligament in the front of my pelvis getting into the helicopter...that grounded me as it was painful to get in and out or to change from sitting to standing and visa versa. Our flight team wore jumpsuits, which was "interesting" on my changed physique. I absolutely tried to empty my bladder before launch both ways...not always easy if you are at the scene.

I would not advertise that you are planning a family, you employer should assume as much. Most flight nurses are young and this is a contingency that your employer must plan for.

Good luck.

[Angelflight]

In my personal experience of having 2 kiddos, I flew with both of them (flight and surface) and I was extremely sick during the first trimester. I took Zofran around the clock. At the end of my second trimester, i started outgrowing my jumpsuit and had to get creative with my new look when I couldn't zip my suit up and going to to the bathroom often was a chore. Thankfully, my nausea/vomiting was relatively gone in the second trimester. But towards the end it was really uncomfortable to transport after 36 weeks. The jarring around and the unpredicitability of how long you were going to gone on transport and back was grueling on the stomach (hungry), or bladder. Cause it's not so convenient at times when you have a critically ill patient, and your having issues.

My friends that transport as well, were in the same boat as me. It is hard to say that you will be able to transport the whole time till your due date, that just depends on your MD recs and what your body is telling you.

Then you are gone for maternity leave, which will leave the team short again. And the big question debate is if you are planning to breastfeed or not? If no, then it will be easier for your transition back to work. If you plan to breastfeed ( I did), in my experience it was pretty tough. Some work days were great, they were light and you were able to do what you had to do. But somedays were hairy and you could only get away like 1 or two times. Often, I had to pump on way to a call (discretely). It can be done, but I remember I was always stressed and praying that the pager wouldn't go off while I was doing my thing.

In all fairness, if your young and recently married, I am sure your employer has thought about that, and you can't live your life around work and miss out on the things that are important to you.

But who knows, your priorities may take a turn and change for what your thought you wanted after you have a little one. I can tell you I love my job, but I could also give it up for what my family needs. That is a far cry from what I would have said prior to having kiddos.

Hope this helps.