? from a nurse about pumping at work?

electricdoctor83

Hey ladies!   I wanted to ask if there were any nurses out there who work 12 hour shifts and are able to pump at work.  I really want to breastfeed and pump at work when I'm gone but everyone thinks I won't be able to.  All the women I work with said they didn't even try.

I work in an ICU and to be honest, there are times when I don't even have time to pee or eat so I think I may be kidding myself thinking I can do it.

The other problem that I am running into is there isn't a spot I can pump in private easily.  I guess I could use the bathroom but that kind of jeeves me out (it is not the cleaniest).  Otherwise there isn't any other private and lockable place. 

I really want to make this work and was wondering if anyone has been successful?

KeyWestDWBride

I am not a nurse but aren't employers required by law to allow you to pump? Sorry not much help...

cfitz16

I am not a nurse, but when we were in the NICU with our baby, there were nurses that were using the pumping rooms along with the moms---they took a break and pumped.  If you have a labor/delivery and or a NICU were you work, I would think no biggie.

kim_and_tony

I work eight hours shifts in a hospital, but I would only pump at lunch and still got enough for two bottles for DD for the first four months.  After that my supply started to drop, so I just BF morning and evening.  I'm so glad I gave it a try, most of my work people weren't very understanding, but I think they didn't find it a good idea to start something because I would have fought for it.  I ended up taking a little bit longer lunch than normal to do this.

kim_and_tony

Oh, and we could use the pumps in the lacation rooms, or my employer had private rooms.  I good pump made a huge difference for me.

makclair

I'm a resident, and sometimes I work 30 hours at a time. I have to just fit in pumping whenI can. There are several nurses that bf/pump in our PICU- another nurse would obviously need to watch your patients when you need to pump, but they would do that if you were eating, taking a break, ect.

 Oh, and I pump in the bathroom some, and it sucks, but i do what I need to do .

lesliemostly

I had to read your post twice bc it practically quotes a post Ive posted before about the same thing...especially the not being able to pee or eat. I just started a new job and was on orientation for several weeks 8 hour shifts and it was super hard to pump bc I was going to classes and was all over the hospital. I work on a small unit and there are only 2 of us at night (with a tech if census is right)...I specifically took a night shift position bc on days I ran around like a chicken with my head off and was lucky if I pumped twice and often only got to do it once on my lunch. Ideally Id do it 3 times, but I think Ill just do it twice and on the way home.

I use the staff bathroom off the med room. There isnt another place. NICU is down the hall and they have hospital pumps for use, but Id feel bad leaving the floor in case something happened. Anyway Im still going strong at 5 months. I suggest getting a stash and also pumping on your days off between feedings bc my mom went thru my freezer stash during the time I wasnt able to pump like I should. I was just able to add a decent amount to it this week while Ive been home.

Kadyra

This is a problem for us too.  I'm an ob resident.  We can usually find time in our L&D shifts to pump.  Usually.  They're about 14 hours during the week, and I think other residents have been able to pump 2-3 times.  On overnight call (24-28 hours in the hospital), it's less certain because there are fewer of us to do more tasks, so maybe 4 times in that period because there is not very much time to eat or pee.  I have occasionally eaten once in a 24 hour period as a reident and let me tell you how awesome that is.  On our gyn surgery rotations, we have to pump in betwen cases.  We have long turnover times, but we're supposed to eat and pee and see other patients in this time, so... It's doable but if you lengthen the turnover time by your pumping, you can get in trouble.  That happened to my chief a couple years ago, but she got in a fight with an attending because she refused to not pump.  Um... we pump all over the place.  in our leche lounge, in our conference room, in our research area, in the ob library... I don't know that we have ever had to use a bathroom.

Emcat1980@yahoo.com

Do you work days or nights?

If you're in an academic center are there any conference rooms or resident call rooms you could borrow, esp if you work days?

I am a resident and I usually pump in a call room, even if I'm not on call. During the day there may be somebody else's stuff in there but they usually aren't in there. I have also locked the door in empty conference rooms and pumped there. Anything to avoid a bathroom - yuck - although I would if I had to.

good luck!

ErinInVA

I am not a nurse, but work the same 12.5 hour shift work with the police department. I am one of the first people to attempt pumping on our schedule, so my supervisors are kind of experimenting with me. For me it works out reasonably well because the supervisors are all very understanding. I don't have a great place to pump either, so I have set up in the locker room. I have a chair tucked in a corner next to the only outlet. I have water nearby to clean afterwards. I'm not overly shy and it doesn't bother me to pump with other females walking in and out. I do bring my nursing cover. I'm not flashing myself all around, but at the same time I'm not going to let them make me uncomfortable...I'm just trying to feed my daughter. I try and pump 4 times in a 12.5 hour shift (every 3 hours), but I've found that most times I can only fit 3 sessions. One way I started to work around this was to take advantage of my travel time. I know this is going to sound funny, but I pump while I drive home. It's hands free and I set it up before I pull out of the parking lot, so it's really no different than talking on a bluetooth headset or something. I have my cover on, so no one can tell what I'm doing. It works and it fits me in a final pumping session I might not otherwise get. Talk to your boss and see how willing to work with you they will be. Good luck to you. 

FortMyersBride

Check w/ HR at your hospital to see if you have pump rooms somewhere.  My hospital has an area called "the pump room" that's down some random hallway on the first floor.  I happened upon it one day before my maternity leave and no one else I talked to even knew it existed.  I finally called HR and they confirmed it was a pumping lounge, with curtained off cubicles, easy chairs, lockers for storage, and even some hospital grade pumps to use.  

That being said, I'm an anesthesia resident with only one guaranteed break during a ~10 hr day, which is my half hour lunch break.  Getting up to that room, pumping and eating, and getting back to the OR in 30 min would be impossible.  Luckily we have call rooms in the OR area, where I go eat and pump handsfree and can get a 20min session in.  Other than that I pump right before work (as in come to the hospital, put my stuff away, get set up in the ORs for the day, then pump) and again before I leave the hospital if I didn't get enough in the first 2 pumping sessions.  So, I think if you pump right before your shift starts and again at least during whatever meal break you might get, you should be in decent shape.  Try starting a freezer stash while on leave, that's a big help.  And honestly, a lot of times when in the ICUs, ORs, or OB anesthesia deck I've pumped whereever I've found an empty room with a chair.  I just hang a sign that says "pumping, please do not disturb" and in the 7 mos I've been doing it, no one has given me trouble for it.