Pregnant sole nurse, help please!

Re: Pregnant sole nurse, help please!

Hannah25uk — Mon, 18 Apr 2011 16:00:39 GMT

Congratulations

I agree with what everyone else has said and also i work at a mixed practice and one of the nurses duties is cleaning large/farm animal equipment. When i was pregnant this was a big no go especially around lambing season.

Re: Pregnant sole nurse, help please!

kat123 — Sun, 17 Apr 2011 12:25:47 GMT

yay and congrats!!!!!!!

your just behind me....im 10wks. i work with a great team and they are supporting me and bump. when i work weekends alone i have one nurse on stand by just incase anything big op wise comes in. And i will just echo what everyone has said. i dont do gass downs, wear gloves all the time ect ect. have you told anyone at work yet??? i contacted the bvna and found them most helpfull.

good luck xxx

Re: Pregnant sole nurse, help please!

nikki84 — Fri, 08 Apr 2011 20:47:35 GMT

Many congrats!!!

We have had several nurses fall pregnant over the past 2 years and we do take things to the max (hospital environment etc).
Everything mentioned on here we do such as no X-rays, gloves to be worn when handling meds and urine. We never let a pregnant nurse handle faeces, especially not cats.
No dealing with any potential infectious patients.
We limit the nurse clinics too as you never know what the animal will be like with the owner etc.
Our pregnant nurses do anaesthetics but as someone mentioned they must wear a mask. We use Carbon Masks which are apparently designed for pregnant nurses to help filter out any Isoflo. No masked down anaesthetics, no small furries either as generally we don't tube them.

Your company should provide you with meetings at each trimester to determine how you are coping and look into reducing your duties. They should be happy to support you and be ready to get cover for you as you won't know how pregnancy will make you feel the further along you go.

Call the BVNA as I'm sure they will be able to give you loads of information :)

Re: Pregnant sole nurse, help please!

Steph Phillips — Mon, 04 Apr 2011 17:14:02 GMT

[quote user="Tracy Windler RVN"]

[quote user="Steph Phillips"]

Also with anaethetics - I wear a mask if I HAVE to monitor (told them i'm not risking it though so I stay out) - seeing as your the sole nurse, I imagine your around gasses all the time so def wear a mask when your monitoring anaethetics - and when patients are in recovery!!! [/quote]

what masks do you use that can filter out anaesthetic gas? I'd be interested to know, as I'm sole-charge and trying for a baby, so always worried about iso!

[/quote]

Awww No idea what they are called but i'll try and find out for you.. to be honest, I'm not convinced they filter out anaesthetics - I reckon they just filter out bacteria! I just wear them on the very rare occasion if I have to assist in anything - something is better than nothing I guess! ... I was told iso is safe during pregnancy up to a certain level (6x the recc amount I think!?!) - but still, I don't like or want to risk it.. I do know though that nitrous oxide is a no no...

Re: Pregnant sole nurse, help please!

Tracy Windler RVN — Mon, 04 Apr 2011 16:57:17 GMT

[quote user="Steph Phillips"]

[/quote]

what masks do you use that can filter out anaesthetic gas? I'd be interested to know, as I'm sole-charge and trying for a baby, so always worried about iso!

Re: Pregnant sole nurse, help please!

Steph Phillips — Mon, 04 Apr 2011 16:27:50 GMT

Hi.. huge congrats to you!!!!

I'm currently 18wks pregnant - and have had a lot of bad luck in hte past so I'm taking things very carefully..

firstly - as someone mentioned - big no to xrays
Wear gloves when handling meds (esp the chalky steriod types)
wear gloves when handling cat litter
try not to lift anything over 10kg.. and bend your knees with back straight - if you have to lift, do it at YOUR PACE very gradually
Wear gloves if you have to apply creams like fuciderm
Also with anaethetics - I wear a mask if I HAVE to monitor (told them i'm not risking it though so I stay out) - seeing as your the sole nurse, I imagine your around gasses all the time so def wear a mask when your monitoring anaethetics - and when patients are in recovery!!!
Get your employer to do a risk assessment

They should think about getting another nurse in.. it's their obligation to look after you and your baby and with appointments like anti-natal or scans, your entitled to paid time off - so they'd need someone to cover you eventually - esp when you go on maternity! ...

Best of luck with everything xx

Re: Pregnant sole nurse, help please!

VNsmac — Mon, 04 Apr 2011 14:22:04 GMT

Hi congratulations!

When i was pregnant and working i still did most of my nursing duties, there were some things i couldnt do such as x-rays and gassing down but i still monitored anaesthetics and i still did my nurse clinics and normal duties. Obviously you need to be more aware of health and safety and general hygiene and your vet should carry out a risk assessment for you. As for lifting, follow your midwifes advice, I would only do what you feel comfortable doing. I second the above advice about contacting the RCVS and BVNA and also direct.gov is a really useful website.

Re: Pregnant sole nurse, help please!

A-J — Sun, 03 Apr 2011 23:03:19 GMT

contact RCVS or BVNA? I did mainly reception xrays are a definate no no and assisting in theatre well i'm not sure of the current guidelines

and..... CONGRATULATIONS