Really bad fever blister. Should I call in?

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I have a REALLY bad fever blister from being Out in the sun too long. It's terrible. I'm embarrassed about it. Should I call in?

My DHs gets fever blisters. Sun exposure is a BIG trigger. Perhaps not everyone knows this. Whenever I hear that someone got sunburned, and then got "fever blisters," I naturally assume they are talking about HSV-1 lesions.

If DH gets a sunburn, he takes his antiviral as a preventative measure. After decades of this, he just knows to do this.

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Specializes in HH, Peds, Rehab, Clinical.

Try reading for comprehension. Op never said she had a "highly contagious weeping cold sore". She said she had a fever blister and was concerned with how it looked. Get off your high horse already

I cannot believe that someone compared a highly contagious, weeping cold sore to a common pimple. I think some of you should google facts before you comment on here. Yeah, tell her to go into work highly contagious because you can't believe she would call in for something so trivial. Good grief!
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Specializes in HH, Peds, Rehab, Clinical.

Someone with a cold sore gave you shingles? I think not

A number of years ago I took report in ICU on a Friday evening at 7 pm from a nurse who had a fever blister/cold sore on her lip that was the size of a dime.

By the following Wednesday, I had shingles.

While I had been taking report, I recall thinking to myself that it didn't seem too wise to be providing patient care with a giant fever blister.

That nurse apparently had shed her virus all over the patient's room, and probably all around the unit.

I ended up on acyclovir, which cost $60 out of pocket in 1990. It was not covered by my employer's insurance at that time, as it was associated with treatment for genital herpes, and was regarded as a condition that an individual was supposed to be able to prevent, behaviorally.

Anyway, I did have to use sick time, and missed work. The infectious nurse? Her fever blister had dried up and she was permitted to continue working with no mandatory sick time.

So, yes, stay home - or at least find out your institution's policy.

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Quote from LeChien

My whole face is embarrassing but I don't call out every day because of it

Okay, but if you had a weeping sore on your face that is highly contagious, could cause serious illness or death to a neonate, and YOU WORKED AROUND NEONATES, this might be just a slightly different thing, correct?

I think she was just being a bit silly.

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Specializes in PICU, Pediatrics, Trauma.
She didn't specify that it was a herpes related until later in the post. She said got it due to sun, so it was possible she could've gotten a sunburn. She also talked about how she was embarrassed by the look of it, nothing about a risk to patients.

She stated she had a "fever blister", common name for HSV. Also, commonly brought on by sun exposure amongst other things. You are correct...I assumed HSV and in light of not knowing for sure, in the sensitive settings, one has to be careful about transmitting HSV.

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Specializes in PICU, Pediatrics, Trauma.
*L&D nurse butting in* I just want to state for the record that it is written unit AND hospital policy at my place of work that you are not permitted to come to work on the L&D/nursery/postpartum floors if you have an active, open cold sore. So no, she's not being a wimp here. This kind of policy actually does exist. Not at every hospital, but at my current one and a lot of others, it is policy.

Ditto! Also Oncology, NICU, or any patient immunocompromised.

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Did you read the OP? Apparently not. She said she had a fever blister from the sun, leaving us unsure if she had a cold sore or sunburn. If it was a sunburn it would be equal to not wanting to go to work because of a pimple - since she was afraid of how she looked.

If it were a sunburn, it wouldn't equate to a pimple. A sunburn is a burn of multiple layers of the skin, and can hurt like hell. A sunburn can leave you with a fever, nausea, vomiting and weeping open blisters...as well as being incredibly painful. So yeah, still not the same as a pimple and still dangerous to be going into work like that. Guaranteed if she went in with those symptoms, patient care would have been greatly affected.

But instead of empathy, the first nature was to attack this poor OP and shame her for not wanting to go in like that.

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Specializes in M/S, LTC, Corrections, PDN & drug rehab.
If it were a sunburn, it wouldn't equate to a pimple. A sunburn is a burn of multiple layers of the skin, and can hurt like hell. A sunburn can leave you with a fever, nausea, vomiting and weeping open blisters...as well as being incredibly painful. So yeah, still not the same as a pimple and still dangerous to be going into work like that. Guaranteed if she went in with those symptoms, patient care would have been greatly affected.

But instead of empathy, the first nature was to attack this poor OP and shame her for not wanting to go in like that.

Once again, read the OP. She stated she had something on her lip & was afraid of what it would look like. I am also vastly aware of how bad sunburns can be but if the OP *stated* she was out in the sun but didn't get sick & was worried about her looks.

Maybe once you actually work as a nurse you will see we are all people, not nurses 24/7/365, have different opinions oh & people have called in for less.

Next time read before you reply to a comment. Because the OP stated she was only afraid of what said blister would look like, NOT how it would affect her work. It wasn't until many posts later she clarified. So in this case sun burn=pimple.

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Specializes in Nurse Leader specializing in Labor & Delivery.
My dear, please communicate clearly. You threw us a curve. I hope you feel well soon.

I understood her. Maybe the term "fever blister" is regional? But I've always known it to mean "cold sore." And she said she got it after being out in the sun too long. Like Horseshoe, I automatically knew what the OP was trying to convey. Maybe because I work with HSV on a regular basis and know its idiosyncracies.

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As for the OP, based on her first initial description, I still took it as a cold sore. The key word was "fever" and not a burn. That is what you should have looked at. Most of our patients use wrong wording all the time, yet we need to figure out what they are trying to describe. Instead of asking questions nicely to further gain info, people went in for the attack and assumed she was not going in due to looks.

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Specializes in M/S, LTC, Corrections, PDN & drug rehab.

Again, if you READ the OP she said she was nervous about her looks. Which made people double guess it being herpes related. Also if she was so concerned with the way she looked it would be similar as a pimple if she was embarrassed of it.

Once more, if you READ the OP you would know it was about looks & it could've been a sunburn since she wasn't worried about contagion at work.

Here's the OP:

I have a REALLY bad fever blister from being Out in the sun too long. It's terrible. I'm embarrassed about it. Should I call in?

Where did she say she was contagious? Where did she say it was herpes related? Where is all this you speak of?

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Specializes in Nurse Leader specializing in Labor & Delivery.

Where did she say she was contagious? Where did she say it was herpes related? Where is all this you speak of?

That is what a "fever blister" is. An HSV lesion on the lip.

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