Working as a nurse and pregnancy

AnonRNC · Aug 28, 2012

No one needs to know you're pregnant until your water breaks. If you need to go home, go home. Put on a pretty face & flattering clothes for interviews.

Best wishes and congratulations!

CrunchyMama, ASN, RN · Aug 28, 2012

I was about 3 months pregnant and still in school when I had my first interview. I of course didn't say a thing. Had my 2nd interview (same place) a couple weeks later, still didn't say anything. I wasn't called and hired for another 2 months after that....so I was almost 5 months pregnant. The nursing director called me to offer me the job and I felt the need to tell her, so I did. She said she would get back to me. @@ She called back about 10 minutes later and said it was ok. @@ Of course it was ok, otherwise the hospital would be named after me, lol. My babe is now 10 months old and I'm still working, part time now though. It can be done! I just wouldn't say anything right away....not something you want to bring up during the interview. Congrats and good luck!

Good Morning, Gil · Aug 28, 2012

Apply for jobs, interview, and get a job close to home if that's what you need right now. Once you start your new job, let them know you're pregnant for safety reasons (no TB patients, for instance). You certainly don't have to let them know at all, but it would be a good thing to let them know so they can plan for your maternity leave, too, and as long as you plan on coming back after maternity leave, it's not a big deal. Problem is, you won't have FMLA since you won't be there a year....not quite sure how that works. Surely, pregnant women are protected somehow?

ShayRN · Sep 2, 2012

I was 5 months pregnant with my first child and very open and honest and got the job anyway. With my son, I was 2 months when I interviewed at the hospital, the manager told me congratulations and told me I could start in 2 weeks. They cannot NOT hire you because you are pregnant. But, you will start on the wrong note if you are not upfront and honest from the start, in my opinion.

JailRN · Sep 2, 2012

Unless they ask, don't volunteer information. Years ago, I oriented a RN from a registry who was hired to work weekends. When she was scheduled for her first shift 3 days later, the registry called and said she was in labor and wouldn't be in. I never knew she was pregnant! Ha! When I was pregnant with #2, I was 8 months before anyone realized that I was pg and not getting fatter! You'll be fine.

RNsRWe, ASN, RN · Sep 2, 2012

They cannot NOT hire you because you are pregnant.

I wonder how true this is. On the one hand, I can see the potential for 'discrimination', but on the other hand....the pregnant woman is NOT on equal footing with the not-pregnant one.

What I mean is, if two people are applying for the same job, and one is six months pregnant and one is not, it doesn't take a genius to figure out that by the time one of them is oriented and considered competent at the job she's going to be taking a minimum of six weeks off (maybe more) and will need a fill-in to replace her....while the other one won't.

Somehow, I've never been in this position; that is, I hire staff but haven't yet gotten "stuck" with a pregnant applicant. I'm sure it'll happen, no doubt, but I think because of what I tend to look for, I'm also looking for older applicants who are probably done with childbearing.

At any rate, I'm not so sure that you "can't" be not hired because of pregnancy, IF there is an equally-qualified applicant who is not pregnant. Just seems like common sense, that the non-pregnant applicant doesn't require nearly the same accommodations, so why go with that if they have any other option?

And yes, I'd also think that if the applicant wasn't honest about it and just "turned up" five months pregnant the day they were due to start, it wouldn't bode well for future dealings with management.

KelRN215, BSN, RN · Sep 2, 2012

I was 5 months pregnant with my first child and very open and honest and got the job anyway. With my son, I was 2 months when I interviewed at the hospital, the manager told me congratulations and told me I could start in 2 weeks. They cannot NOT hire you because you are pregnant. But, you will start on the wrong note if you are not upfront and honest from the start, in my opinion.

Officially and legally, you are correct. An employer is not allowed to discriminate on the basis of pregnancy. HOWEVER, it would be very difficult to prove that pregnancy was the reason you were not hired if there's an applicant pool full of equally qualified nurses.

xoemmylouox, ASN, RN · Sep 2, 2012

I wouldn't tell a soul until you are hired.. You aren't very far along.. You can always act like it is a SUPRISE to you as well. Congrats regardless!

RNsRWe, ASN, RN · Sep 2, 2012

Officially and legally, you are correct. An employer is not allowed to discriminate on the basis of pregnancy. HOWEVER, it would be very difficult to prove that pregnancy was the reason you were not hired if there's an applicant pool full of equally qualified nurses.

Yeah, this is pretty much where I was going in my post. Even if there are exactly two applicants and they are equally qualified, the non-pregnant one is going to be hired for the reasons I gave.

ShayRN · Sep 2, 2012

I am glad my managers didn't feel that way. I am one of the hardest working people you will ever meet, the last time I called off was in 2009, when I had pneumonia. I also worked both jobs until the day before I delivered and only took 7 weeks of maternity leave. In the mean time, if they hadn't hired me because of the pregnancys, they would have missed out on a pretty darn good nurse. Besides, there were about 6 other girls younger than me that were hired all at the same time, within two years they were all starting their families. I think someone being pregnant is a pretty crappy reason to not hire them.

wbenson · Sep 2, 2012

I have a dilemma. I am 13 weeks pregnant and am currently working full time. I need to move back home to be with my family. I found out that pregnancy is not considered a pre existing condition due to hipaa laws. I'm worried that no one will hire me if they know I'm pregnant. I currently do not look pregnant because I have lost 15 pounds due to hyperemesis, which is improving. I just need to go home. I just don't know what to do.

Here was my experience, I am a Nurses aide, at 4 months preg I applied for a new position at a NH. I interveiwed and 3 weeks later I was hired. I didnt tell them I was preg. It had nothing to do with my job performance. So then like a month into my employment there the lady who hired me catches me as I ma clocking out and says

'I heard a rumor about u" I say " What, that I am preg?" She asked me how far along I am and I tell her 5 months..... She asks if i knew when she hired me. I rply yes. She says well if we had known that we may not have hired u. I replied with Iknow thats why I didnt say anything, And btw it shouldnt matter because I dont ask for special treatment, I am fully able to do my job. The other 2 aides I worked with were mean to me cause of the pregnancy but I just ignored them.

So fast forward 6 weeks, I have a light duty note from the Dr due some complications. It said no where on it that it was effective till the end of the preg.. Just for that time. I was fired. Due to the fact I couldnt perform my job duties, but I am welcome to reapply. That weekend I ended up in the hospital with a raging UTI, which apparently was why I was so sick to begin with. So really would of been out of work for 2 weeks if they hadnt fired me.

Talk about angry and betrayed. I really needed the job, everyone says what they did was illegal, but I have nothing I can do in retaliation. So now I have 4 weeks left and I just have to deal with it.