Along the lines of the "But I have little kids . . . . " thread:
One of my co-workers announced her pregnancy this week, stating that she was no longer willing to work weekends or holidays because she's going to be a parent. She also has to have Christmas off because this is going to be her last child-free Christmas. Oh and by the way, she can't take care of anyone with VRE, MRSA, or any other type of isolation. "Yukky wounds" make her nauseous, so she can't take those patients -- in fact, wouldn't it be best to just have her do charge all the time?
We're a large unit and have 1 - 6 nurses pregnant at any given time. Plus there are those who can't travel to interventional radiology, take infected patients, etc. because they're TRYING to get pregnant.
The last nurse to have her baby had to sit in the chair her entire shift "because I'm pregnant," and had orientees to do everything for her. Not the role of I preceptor, I'm thinking!
What's the strangest/most irritating thing you've had a coworker demand because she's pregnant?
Specializes in CCU, SICU, CVSICU, Precepting & Teaching.
a person on diuretics can have some really darn urgent needs, too. so no i do not think the pg person deserved special consideration. esp not the way she just "took" it.
thank you! the way she just barged in front of me without a "by your leave" just floored me! if my needs hadn't been so darned urgent, i probably would have been to shocked to speak up!
This is the very reason I am getting my pregnancy's out of the way while im still in nursing school. I already know how sick I am the first 5 months of pregnancy there's just no way I can hold down a job in that condition.
wow...Ruby...that is about the rudest thing I've seen for a while (co worker to co-worker)
Yes....pregnant women (I'm pregnant with my 4th now) do get the urge and boy is is sudden , But so do some other folks...women esp,women on diuretics,really bad.
My comment to those pregnant women who feel so inclined to thing they are entitled....prepare for those times....With my 3rd, I needed to wear an incontinace insert. Sometimes you just can't make it to the br in time. lol. Pregnancy is temporary (unless you are like me, lol) Deal with it.
All that being said. I do get babied at my job. Not by choice though. I work with a great bunch that insist I take it easy. Not easy fighting them.
I worked last friday in the er with a nurse who was within 2 weeks of delivery and the only thing she wont do is heavy lifting.... And I think she takes her breaks.
I agree pregnancy is by choice. I once had a co-worker in longterm care that assumed because she was pregnant we were going to do most of her work to. In the begining a couple of us bought the pregnant routine. I to had worked pregnant with all three of my children and actually went into labor with one at work. I was the one most said stop and let me do that to. When you go to work and are pregnant you can still remain to do most of your duties if you set your mind to it. It's not a handicap for most. I think pregnant nurses should be able to perform their duties just like the rest of us with exception to patients that really do put them at risk otherwise take an early leave until they have had the baby.
ITA... I was still working full-time as an EMT for a transport service during my pregnancy. I still worked 12-14 hour days and lifted all but the severely obese patients. I didn't ask for any special treatment or lighter run volume or shorter work day... In fact I didn't stop working until about a week before my due date... so I know by experience that you really can still do your job while you are pregnant. Some days were no picnic, but there was no way I would have asked my coworkers to do more work just because I chose to have a baby.
Specializes in Specializes in L/D, newborn, GYN, LTC, Dialysis.
I do think women who take advantage of their "delicate" condition are in the minority. If someone takes serious advantage, I believe it is up to the professionals around her to set her straight. End of story.
OK folks, the last 3 people who became pregnant on my unit went TWP (light duty) before the first trimester was over. What this means is they were not given patient assignments and a list of what duties they could do was provided. They are not counted as staff. You are lucky if you can even get them do what is approved by their doctor on the list. Unfortunately it has become a precedent. I keep joking that I want to be pregnant so I can take it easy at work for the next 9 months. BTW, the unit manager's hands are tied on this one. It's HR thats OK'd this.
Believe me I'm not bashing pregnancy or mothers-to-be, it's just what is happening where I work would not have happened elsewhere where I've been employed.
Oh and by the way, she can't take care of anyone with VRE, MRSA, or any other type of isolation. "Yukky wounds" make her nauseous, so she can't take those patients -- in fact, wouldn't it be best to just have her do charge all the time?
This is a good thing not to be around because of infection...I am not sure about the "Yucky"part...I worked with a PA that could not see patients that were sick. Just paps, med checks, ect...
I think that a woman should be able to work in a safe environment if she is pregnant or even trying, but it is not fair to make other people work for them. Can't they be transfered to a less dangerous position? If not, they should be replaced...its not discrimination IMO...its "your not doing your job"!!
Specializes in PICU, Nurse Educator, Clinical Research.
Interesting thread. My husband and I are casually trying to get pregnant (if it happens, we'll be thrilled- but we're not going to worry if it takes a year or two), and I'm very glad I don't work in bedside nursing anymore. Not because of anything anyone here has said- I just have some physical problems that will make carrying a baby to term a little sketchy, and I would hate the thought of being counted as a fully-functioning staff member when I can't *work* as one.
I resigned from my last bedside nursing position because partial paralysis from a spinal injury caused my leg to give way out of the blue, so I fell a lot. When this started, I immediately told my manager I had to leave- I was working in peds, and I was NOT going to drop someone's baby! My manager was angry- she said i was leaving her in a bind. Well, too bad. There were plenty of float and agency nurses who could SAFELY care for those patients, and I wasn't willing to risk injuring my patients OR myself. Yes, it sucked that I had to leave suddenly- had there been another way, I wouldn't have done that. But patient safety comes before staffing concerns, IMO.
Later, working in HR at a sub-acute facility, I had a nurse that was pregnant with twins who applied for FMLA because her doctor put her on bedrest. She didn't have STD insurance, and because she'd not worked there a year, she wouldn't be eligible for FMLA until a month after she was put on bedrest (most of her 3rd trimester, I think). So, since she wouldn't be actually WORKING when she qualified, she wouldn't qualify at all. It sucked- management basically didn't have to keep her job for her.
The crappiest part of it all is that the few women who try to shirk their responsibilities- not out of medical neccessity, but out of a sense of entitlement or laziness- end up screwing things up for the rest of us. I've worked with women who pushed themselves beyond what was safe (lifting beyond what their OB recommended, never asking for help) just so they wouldn't be perceived as milking the pregnancy. I've also had pregnant coworkers who continued to work, even when their docs told them to go on leave, because they didn't qualify for any sort of leave and had no other source of income.
I think that, largely, American workplaces (even those with predominantly female workforces) simply aren't able to accomodate childbearing women. Is this a vestige of male-dominated society? That's probably part of it. Many other countries have us beat on that front.
All that being said, I've gotten the short end of the stick with coworkers who were parents on numerous occasions. The one that p***ed me off the most, though, happened to come from a man- he expected me to stay after 5 PM to cover all of my department's late conference calls because he had *kids*, and I didn't. WTH?? :angryfire
Seems to me there's a rather large gap between what are reasonable, pregnancy-based restrictions and what this co-worker wants.
Working Christmas, holidays or weekends won't hurt her or her child.......unless she doesn't handle reality well. In which case there is little hope anyway. She'll just birth and raise another selfish person.
, But so do some other folks...women esp,women on diuretics,really bad. 
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It sucked- management basically didn't have to keep her job for her.
Ruby Vee, BSN
17 Articles; 14,051 Posts
i've worked with quite a few i really admire, too. but there's always the one you just want to strangle . . . .