What is safe in Practice when Pregnant??

Re: What is safe in Practice when Pregnant??

Hannah Young — Sat, 11 Jun 2011 16:24:12 GMT

First of all- Congratulations!!

Obv you cant lift anything or do x-rays but in theatre I think you are still safe to do theatre, but if you can have the animal on pure oxygen and try and avoid usng no2. Also make sure the animal is connected before turning on gases and make sure you run the bag through with oxygen before disconnecting the animal as you dont want any gases hanging around. Do this a few times with pure o2.

Hope this helps

Hannah x

Re: What is safe in Practice when Pregnant??

anji jonas — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 13:05:03 GMT

Hi there, first of all, huge congratulations!!

i have worked in practice throught both my pregnancies (my kids are now 4yrs and 15 months), and i told my employers as soon as i found out, they were very supportive and accomodating both times.

i of course took no further part in xrays, dispensing large animal hormonal drugs or masking down any patients but i continued to do anesthetics throught. but we have good active scavenging and all patients are tubed with cuffed et tubes. i echo the point about recovering animals in the kennals and thats certinly a place you should not be if at all possible.

but it really is down to the individual, you are not ill, only pregnant so you can do what you feel comfortable doing. as long as you are not taking aviodable risks then carry on as normal. your employers should do a risk assessment for you so you get the opertunity to discuss any concerns.

i for one was still going tb testing until i left for my maternity leave, but again, i was well, the farm was safe i i felt that i wanted to do it. it will not be the same for everyone. you and your bump are individuals, do whats right for you.

best of luck for a happy, healthy pregnancy

Re: What is safe in Practice when Pregnant??

dallinson — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 12:24:33 GMT

Hi i have just returned from mat leave. I was working in theatre until i was 7months, was worried re gases but didnt work with anything unless intubated and the vets did all the lifting. I had to assist with xrays as I am the only nurse in the practice but stayed well away during exposures and didnt handle drugs. If you take it easy and just say no if someones asks you to do something your not happy about, you should be fine. I had no problems and worked til just over 8months. Good luck x

Re: What is safe in Practice when Pregnant??

Steph Phillips — Thu, 26 May 2011 07:59:13 GMT

[quote user="Laura Hicks"]there is more anaesthetic gas in the air in the kennels/recovery area than there is in a theatre with snug tubes, this is due to the animals expiring the gas into the environment upon recovery.[/quote]

yup.. thats true!

Re: What is safe in Practice when Pregnant??

Laura Hicks — Thu, 26 May 2011 00:42:23 GMT

Congratulations, that's fab news!

The pregnant nurses where I work have always done theatre shifts as normal, and just ensured that tubes are cuffed adequately and that the scavenging system is fully operational. Other nurses have been used to 'gas down' patients as necessary, so those pregnant are free to leave the room.

One of our vets has a certificate in anaesthesia and has the very acceptable point to make that there is more anaesthetic gas in the air in the kennels/recovery area than there is in a theatre with snug tubes, this is due to the animals expiring the gas into the environment upon recovery.

Just another point to be aware of.

Good luck and best wishes!

Re: What is safe in Practice when Pregnant??

Phrin Vernon RVN — Wed, 25 May 2011 21:46:31 GMT

[quote user="Steph Phillips"]

CONGRATULATIONS BOTH!!!!

I'm 26wks pregnant, and as soon as I found out (@ 6wks) I told my employer I'd rather not do anesthetics and they have been very accommodating.. I've had 4 miscarrages in the past, and with this pregnancy , the only thing i've done different is stay out of theater - and so far so good .. Obviosuly everyone is different so I don't want to scare you out of theater! - I've personally had loads of problems with past pregnancies so I'm taking no risks, and that includes anesthetics!

But, Main things to avoid / do are

Avoid xrays
Avoid hormaonal drugs
wear gloves when handling litter trays
wear gloves when dispencing medication (esp the chalky type of tablets)
no heavy lifting
wear gloves when handling patients with skin problems
Take regular breaks if you need too, as pregnancy can exhaust your body!

There are probably more, your employer should do a risk assessment so that should help you.

But.. the top thing of all is: Enjoy your pregnancy xxx

[/quote]

Avoid cleaning out cat litter trays if poss, but at least wear gloves. Don't let random patients lick you in the face .... (I do this all the time - bad nurse lol)

Congrats! I would agree with all of the above - some things are 100% No!, such as rads, hormonal drugs, heavy lifting etc, and some are more of a grey area and depend on the practice.

For example, if the practice used fluosorbers, I wouldn't be happy in theatre, especially if there were long ga's involved, and they weren't weighed in between every procedure. Active scavenging and properly cuffed ET tubes, is a different matter.

You need to have a good chat with HN/PM but congrats and good luck!

Re: What is safe in Practice when Pregnant??

Steph Phillips — Wed, 25 May 2011 21:30:05 GMT

CONGRATULATIONS BOTH!!!!

But, Main things to avoid / do are

Avoid xrays
Avoid hormaonal drugs
wear gloves when handling litter trays
wear gloves when dispencing medication (esp the chalky type of tablets)
no heavy lifting
wear gloves when handling patients with skin problems
Take regular breaks if you need too, as pregnancy can exhaust your body!

There are probably more, your employer should do a risk assessment so that should help you.

But.. the top thing of all is: Enjoy your pregnancy xxx

Re: What is safe in Practice when Pregnant??

Steph Worsley — Wed, 25 May 2011 20:33:08 GMT

Congrats to both of you!!!!

Ok It's entirely up to you what you are happy with, as long as you arent in the room when gassing down and make sure tubes are snug fitting and ative scavenging then ga's should tehnically be safe,

like has been said you may find yourself out of work if you say you're not happy doing theatre work, but have a chat with hn/pm and see what they say, we had a mat leave locum find out she was pregnant about a month after she started with us, she still goes into theatre as the risk assessments were done and discussions were had between her and the hn and she felt happy enough.

ultimaely though it is up to you

Re: What is safe in Practice when Pregnant??

Fuzzyduck — Wed, 25 May 2011 20:22:08 GMT

From my experience it depends on the nurse as to whether you are happy doing anaesthetics, alot i have met wont do any, or even set foot in theatre, but some will.

Anaesthetics are supposed to be safe as long as you have a good working scavenging system.

The problem i guess you have being a locum is if you say you arnt happy doing theatre work, you may find yourself out of work if thats what the practice needs you there for, but ultimately you have to put yourself first and decide what you will be happy doing, the practice should do a risk assesment with you as soon as they know you are pregnant that way you can decide what you are able to do.