pregnant nurses working with nuclear stress test patients??

[telenurse4u]

Hello, I have been a tele RN for about five years now, and I wasn't warned in nursing school or when I was hired about the potential risk for pregnant nurses working around nuclear stress test patients. I just realized this about two years ago! I am wondering how many nurses were warned about this potential risk before starting in this field. Also, I am curious if there is a higher incidence of miscarriages and birth defects among telemetry staff nurses. Also, I am curious if tele nurses are warning patient's family members about this. Please let me know what you were told about this before you began working with these patients. Thanks.

[dianah, ASN]

I urge you to contact your Radiation Safety Officer (RSO) in your facility, as the authority and knowledgeable person (and the one responsible for maintaining radiation exposure safety in your facility), to answer your questions and concerns.

You may want him/her to arrange an inservice for the other staff members, and to provide patients and staff with any written information about the potential risks to family members/staff.

Our Nuclear Medicine Technologists *should* be educating the patients on proper precautions after being injected with radioactive isotopes.

I've included two links below for educational purposes. One informative link is from Duke University, the other is from Medical University of South Carolina. Both specifically seek to educate Nursing personnel about radiation exposure and safety.

Hope they help, and do speak with your RSO!

http://www.safety.duke.edu/radsafety/nurses/default.asp

http://www.musc.edu/fanda/risk/radiation/Pages/Nursetrainmain.htm