So upset about VRE!!!

Working w/ Cdif patients isnt any safer, still an infection related to abx. Cdif is far more contagious and easier to catch.

What causes a VRE infection?

VRE, like many bacteria, can be spread from one person to another through casual contact or through contaminated objects. Most often, VRE is spread from the hands of a health professional to a patient in a hospital or other health care setting. VRE is not usually spread through the air like the common cold or flu virus unless you have VRE pneumonia and are coughing, which is rare.

If you are healthy, your chances of getting VRE are very low. Even if you have been exposed to VRE, or have VRE in your body, you are not likely to get an infection. VRE infections generally only occur among people who have weakened immune systems, such as people with long-term illnesses or people who have had major surgery or other medical procedures and have been treated with multiple antibiotics.

http://www.webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/vancomycin-resistant-enterococci-vre-overview

If you use universal precautions, none of that should be that big of a deal. Relax.

If you use universal precautions, none of that should be that big of a deal. Relax.

If I wasn't pregnant...I wouldn't care, however there has to be some reason that my ob said NOT to take care of a pt who has VRE, because it's dangerous for my baby.

If I wasn't pregnant...I wouldn't care, however there has to be some reason that my ob said NOT to take care of a pt who has VRE, because it's dangerous for my baby.

That may be true, however the op is right if you used universal percautions you should be fine and it also depends on where the vre is/was?

I took care of all kinds of isolation patients when I was preggo. And pulled patients up...and cleaned poo....I took care of at least one (known) VRE patient. I took care of a patient with full blown ES AIDS.

I was just very careful. Just like I am now with a houseful of kids to go home to. Happy Baby!

Check with your OBGYN if you are really bothered. One of the girls I work with did manage to get a note not saying she could not take care of any isolation patients while pregnant.

Check with your OBGYN if you are really bothered. One of the girls I work with did manage to get a note not saying she could not take care of any isolation patients while pregnant.

As a now pregnant nurse, I would never put my coworkers in the position of having to take on all the isolation patients just because I am pregnant. This is incredibly unfair to other staff. In my first pregnancy I worked 12 hour days on a transport ambulance (lifting and transferring patients all day, some with isolation precautions) right up until delivery... had a textbook pregnancy, and labor. I am one of seven pregnant women on my unit right now, if we all didn't care for isolation patients that would put an enormous strain on our non-pregnant colleagues.

Check with your OBGYN if you are really bothered. One of the girls I work with did manage to get a note not saying she could not take care of any isolation patients while pregnant.

As a now pregnant nurse, I would never put my coworkers in the position of having to take on all the isolation patients just because I am pregnant. This is incredibly unfair to other staff. In my first pregnancy I worked 12 hour days on a transport ambulance (lifting and transferring patients all day, some with isolation precautions) right up until delivery... had a textbook pregnancy, and labor. I am one of seven pregnant women on my unit right now, if we all didn't care for isolation patients that would put an enormous strain on our non-pregnant colleagues.

I agree...what I did not put in my first post is that she only lasted a few weeks after she gave her note. She went to a different area...home health..which so puzzled me because of her being worried about germs...We have about seven pregnant women in my ICU now. One of them took care of a VRE patient yesterday.

Good Luck to the OP.:heartbeat

i don't have a problem with taking care of pts in isolation (i believe in my original post i stated such), however i do have a problem taking care of a pt who has vre, since my ob specifically said not to, due to the harm that it can do to my baby. i have taken care of pts with mrsa, c-diff, hiv, hep, or whatever...no problem. my concern was what harm could possibly come to my baby having taken care of a pt with vre. apparently there is some danger to a fetus, whether or not you practice perfect isolation precautions. i will just speak with my ob when i see him later next week.

thanks for all of your replies!

Hope you get some reassuring news from your OB. I was done having kids when I entered the nursing field, and I think God timed it that way because I'm so paranoid - I would have been horrible to be around! We can't help but worry about the health of our precious babies - just part of being a parent. Get some extra rest, take care of yourself, and let us know what your OB says.

:flwrhrts:

If I wasn't pregnant...I wouldn't care, however there has to be some reason that my ob said NOT to take care of a pt who has VRE, because it's dangerous for my baby.

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There are so many things to avoid during pregnancy that could be worse! (Like coccidiomycosis from changing cat litter, eating too much mercury laden seafood, and a true exposure to HIV, HepC, etc., ) However, I know that doesn't ease your worries.

What could ease them, is going to your Employee Health Nurse with your concerns. She/he can run stool cultures for you, on several occasions, and if (God forbid you acquired the organism from your patient) it can be successfully treated with antibiotics to which it responds.

I've been an Infection Control Nurse and an Employee Health Nurse, and welcomed professionals doing the professional thing (coming to see me when concerned about acquiring something through the workplace). The records kept in those departments don't get read by anyone else. While Universal Precautions is effective, we always wonder if we did everything we could, especially when our actions could affect a baby.

I hope you're taking preparation for childbirth classes with a teacher you like, who bugs you to practice, practice, practice the techniques for labor, until they're second nature!

So be thankful today especially, and pro-actively go about having your anxiety assuaged. Have a great birth and a healthy baby and postpartum course. Life is good.