pregnant staff

Re: pregnant staff

loobylou — Mon, 04 Oct 2010 18:39:00 GMT

I'm currently 26 weeks pregnant and following h&s advice from citation, manufacturer of sevo and the vmd I haven't been allowed in theatre or the recovery area, in or anywhere near xray, no heavy lifting and gloves for everything. My nurses have been fab as I did come off the night duties rota too. We were told by the vmd that they had put a blanket ban on all contact with anaesthetic gases for all pregnant or breastfeeding nurses.

The most important thing to do is carry out a risk assessment with the pregnant nurse and update it as the pregnancy progresses. Do take into account that she may feel tired and may struggle with some tasks as she gets bigger. I have just got to the size where crawling round the floor and restraining some patients has become difficult.

Re: pregnant staff

Tracey Louise — Mon, 04 Oct 2010 18:23:08 GMT

Hiya!

I worked through my pregnancy until i was 8 months pregnant and then left for maternity leave. My daughter has just turned 1 so it was only just over a year ago.

I worked with sevoflourane and isoflourane all the way through, just made sure that fans were on, scavenging attached and animals were intubated (didnt assist with animals wearing masks), its was pretty hard to avoid working with animals under anaesthetic as this is a major part of my role.

I didnt lift or restrain any large or boisterous dogs or assist with xrays (including positioning) and didnt do any on call as the risk of having to do the above was very high during out of hours.

I think that you are advised to avoid anaesthetic gasses when pregnant though, and it is the responsibility of the practice to make sure that a pregnant employee and there unborn child are under no harm.

You could check with the manufacturers and see if there is any research done?

Hope this helps :)

Re: pregnant staff

MrsP — Mon, 04 Oct 2010 18:13:08 GMT

I'm 27weeks pregnant and am still working in theatre but only as the vets are very conscious about ensuring patients are well intubated (ie well fitting tubes!). No small furry anaesthetics or 'dodgy' anaesthetics either. No topping up iso. I have heard that the Iso data sheet suggests absolutely no contact with the gas, but haven't confirmed this (?).

No lifting, ensuring sitting/standing when necessary, breaks when necessary, no working at heights (ie step ladders etc), not working with chemo patients, potentially zoonotic patients, or sick cats in particular.

I'm still doing on-call duties, but not sure for much longer as lone working needs serious thinking about!

I've found it very difficult to own up to feeling ill/tired/unable to do things as I don't want to put upon any of the other nurses so I have been very lucky that the other vets and nurses have been looking after me! I also have monthly risk-assessments with the practice manager to ensure things are going ok.

Re: pregnant staff

Yvette Boffey — Mon, 04 Oct 2010 15:11:22 GMT

Hiya,

I had my son 1 year ago and still operated until I was 5 months pregnant. I wasn't allowed to operate when masking animals down and had to leave the room.

Wasn't allowed anywhere near the xrays and didn't touch litter trays.

Just seemed to wear gloves for everything! All the staff were great and would always try to get another member of staff to help them before asking me, got quite boring actually!

Re: pregnant staff

Selena Carnell — Mon, 04 Oct 2010 13:58:00 GMT

i worked through my preg, didnt lift heavy dogs and vets were great about that, stayed in xray and helpped position, but well out when exposing.

I carried on with theatre work as everthing was tubed and actively scavenged, occasionally helped with gassing down exotics... my boy is 5 and healthy!

litter trays i avoided if poss, but wore gloves if not.

Its all about being sensible.

Re: pregnant staff

Shelly vn — Mon, 04 Oct 2010 09:22:56 GMT

I'm not sure what the actual recommendations are but i work in a practice thats recently had 3 members of clinical staff pregnant (and we only had 4 clinical staff!) and they didn't deal with any small furries that had been gassed down, but they did go into theatre with patients that were intubated. So far 2 healthy babies have been born no problems.

Re: pregnant staff

Nick Shackleton — Mon, 04 Oct 2010 09:14:14 GMT

I worked with 3 pregnant members of staff in my last job. and they went no where near theatres. Also its not just the anaesthetic gases but also diathermy and surgical cement that are meant to be harmful too.