vent about work assignment

[treeye]

I am 10 weeks pregnant and trying to wait till 2nd trimester to announce my pregnancy. I continue to take care of pts with MRSA VRE C-diff, I seldom refuse to help to pull a patient unless they are very obese. I try my best not to be treated differently just because I am pregnant.

I emailed my director and supervisors and request not to work on the oncology floor. After two weeks I received an email back stating that the only thing they can promise is that I will not be assigned to a patient actively receiving chemo (well, thanks for the big favor!) . Last week, I was assigned on the oncology floor with a TB patient. When I ask the supervisor whether I can take care of such patient, she said "well, I guess, it should be fine"(Will she be so ambiguous if she is pregnant?). I called my OB doctor and was told that someone else should take that assignment.

Just want to vent that you have to stand up for yourself. Management only cares about numbers, they don't give a ** about you.

[Ruas61, BSN, RN]

Did you just ask? Or are they aware of your pregnancy?

[ChristineN, BSN, RN]

I feel you are asking too much. The rule of thumb everywhere I has been is pregnant caretakers should not be assigned to pts actively receiving chemo or have received chemo in the last two weeks. Contact isolation pts such as MRSA is not a contraindication for care, as MRSA can not be passed on to the fetus.

You do need to be careful around pts with shingles and chicken pox.

Also, if you say you are 10 weeks pregnant but haven't told people at work until 12 weeks it is possible the charge nurses making the assignments have no idea.

[lmccrn62, MSN, RN]

Very little you can't care for being pregnant. Either you play along or you should quit. Being pregnant doesn't offer special privileges. .

[RNperdiem, RN]

Unless the person who makes assignments knows exactly what you need to avoid, they will make uninformed decisions. Maybe the TB patient was one of the few who was not getting chemo, and they thought it would be a fine assignment for you.

[nrsang97, BSN, RN]

If the charge nurse has no idea you are pregnant then how do you expect them to not accidentally give you a patient you shouldn't have? You can take almost everything with the exception of chicken pox, shingles, pt receiving chemo or radiation, and TB.

I don't believe it is that no one cares, but they are unaware. You can work the oncology unit with an assignment keeping you from the chemo patients rooms.

[WV-RN]

IMO I feel that pregnant nurses should have special considerations. I would never give an assignment to a pregnant nurse that included isolation patients or someone who is known to be a dead lift. Those of us nurses that have been pregnant before already have a real fear of what can go wrong so why make it worse. Let the prego's have the walky talkees for gosh sakes! BTW I haven't been pregnant for 17 years but I still remember how most days you don't even want to get out of bed much less go take care of other people.....

[treeye]

I don't understand how I am asking too much. I never refused pts with MRSA,VRE, C-diff, never avoided lifting pts because I am familiar with these types of limitations. When it comes to iffy issues such as TB, radiation, would you risk your baby when you are not sure?

I have no problem with floor nurses since they are not aware of my situation. However, as a supervisor/manager( who I informed my pregnancy 5 weeks ago), if you are not sure about whether a pregnant nurse can take care of certain types of pt, don't say "probably it's safe". Give her a pt that is "for sure safe" for her to take care of. I am sure she wouldn't want to take that risk if she is pregnant. I don't think I am asking for special treatment, just some common courtesy.

[OneDuckyRN]

Talk to your Infection Control department about what specifically you should be avoiding during pregnancy. You may have to just come right out and tell management/charge nurses that you are pregnant in order to avoid these things.

For what it's worth, the only thing I haven't seen mentioned that you should definitely be avoiding is a patient with CMV (or r/o CMV).

[NOADLS]

IMO I feel that pregnant nurses should have special considerations. I would never give an assignment to a pregnant nurse that included isolation patients or someone who is known to be a dead lift. Those of us nurses that have been pregnant before already have a real fear of what can go wrong so why make it worse. Let the prego's have the walky talkees for gosh sakes! BTW I haven't been pregnant for 17 years but I still remember how most days you don't even want to get out of bed much less go take care of other people.....

Take additional unpaid leave if needed, DO NOT pass go and DO NOT collect $200!

[lmccrn62, MSN, RN]

Pregnancy doesn't mean your crippled. Very little you can't come in contact with. Your peers don't want to be stuck with all the stuff you don't think you should be around. Either suck it up or stay home. I have had 3 kids and worked no one treated me special.

[Pepper The Cat, BSN, RN]

IMO I feel that pregnant nurses should have special considerations. I would never give an assignment to a pregnant nurse that included isolation patients or someone who is known to be a dead lift. Those of us nurses that have been pregnant before already have a real fear of what can go wrong so why make it worse. Let the prego's have the walky talkees for gosh sakes! BTW I haven't been pregnant for 17 years but I still remember how most days you don't even want to get out of bed much less go take care of other people.....

So for the next 9 months, Pregnant Nurses' co-workers get heavier assignments, take all the isolation pts, do all the heavy lifting, while Pregnant Nurse gets all the walky talkees? No way.

There would be days on my unit that Pregnant Nurse wouldn't have an assignment.