Any othe ICU nurses out there??

bfrank2014 · November 2014

Soo I am finding it harder and harder to hide the fact that I'm pregnant in this job! Today I was literally gagging when cleaning my patient up... I can't stand the sight of food let alone body fluids!! Then everyone was practically forcing me to eat lunch (when 5oclock rolled around and they realized I haven't taken lunch yet) and I had to make up excuses why I couldn't eat. Ugg this is killing me. I hope this morning sickness passes soon! Is anyone else having difficulty?

tiffany831 · November 2014

I'm a med surg nurse and work is so hard right now! I'll be ten weeks on Monday and waiting for the end of the first tri. I haven't told anyone at work, but I'm sure they suspect because I have gotten a few you look exhausted comments. Hoping to somehow make it through! The smells are the worst!

Leahks77 · November 2014

I'm a cardiac float nurse. It's definitely not an easy profession when your stomach is... unsettled. I'm better off this time than last time but it's still rough. I'm also having a harder time with exhaustion and 12's are killing me. Especially with a toddler and barely sleeping after a night shift... Ugh. Come on second tri energy!! Good luck ladies!!

KatieRoseRN83 · November 2014

I'm a cardiac nurse. I almost puked in a patients bathroom while getting a CDiff sample today! Ugh!

awheeler4311 · November 2014

I'm a nursing recruiter for a large hospital system...And I actually wanted to make a post the other day that says holy shit how do you nurses do it. I've seen nurses go into labor while working on a unit and go downstairs to labor and delivery floor and have their baby!!! You are a special breed of your own and you all deserve a metal. I can't even sit at my desk all day, let alone do 12 hour shifts all day/night cleaning up the grossest stuff imaginable.

tinavonsparkle · November 2014

I hear ya'll! Im a scrub nurse and the smell of the diathermy literally makes vomit everytime - not convenient at all! Constant manual handling of the unconcious patients, standing for long periods and the heavy instrument trays means that I'm physically exhausted when I get home at night. I eat my dinner and then fall asleep on the sofa at 8pm, game over! My (lonely) bf is being a star tho x

born2runrn · November 2014

I am a cardiac surgery nurse and had to tell everyone at work as soon as I found out because I can't take transplant patients. So everyone at work already knows before my friends and some family! Weird. Also finding that I am having so much trouble working 3 shifts in a row. And worried about the toll night shifts are taking on me. Ugh. Working as a nurse while pregnant is not too fun!!! It's stressing me out. Good luck ladies. I hope we make it through this in one piece!

jenniferRN85 · November 2014

I'm a pediatric icu nurse and I told my don and clinical managers right away. I don't want any pts that could be dangerous to me. Some of my coworkers have picked up on it when I threw up the other night but most haven't and I told everyone who knows not to say anything but they are women so let's see how long this lasts lol

RoniSimonney · November 2014

I'm an icu nurse and instead of morning sickness I seem to be getting night shift sickness! It is getting very difficult to explain why I keep running to the loo or gagging in the sluice. The joys of pregnancy! Bring on the second trimester

momtobe613 · November 2014

ER/trauma nurse here. I almost puked with a pt that had a gi bleed the other day. I'm usually able to hold myself together but I truly almost lost my cookies. Hoping the second trimester will be kinder in terms of fatigue.

So glad we have so many nurses!!

alfyock · November 2014

Surgical nurse/nurse practitioner here... we use a lot of fluoroscopy (there is only one pregnancy lead in our department... talk about being obvious) and with an orthopaedic specialty, I haven't been able to go in cases with bone cement since we found out, another obvious indication. I am still denying all the allegations though, or laughing them off anyways! Luckily, despite all the body fluids in surgery, I haven't had any problems with vomiting, just peeing a lot

AmberC311 · November 2014

Hospice nurse here. Told my leadership team right away. They are amazing people so I had no concerns.

TeacherMama7 · November 2014

Wow, props to you guys! I thought being a teacher was hard while pregnant because it's so exhausting, and Lunch duty - those smells - gross! However, it sounds like you guys have it way worse!!! I hope you all feel better soon!

JoJo1111 · November 2014

L and D nurse here. The vomit and the poop are doing me in! I have been telling my patients if I gag it's me not you. They are all super understanding, being pregnant themselves!

geanencook · November 2014

I'm in my last two semesters of nursing school and am headed to med surg, ICU, and ER for the next 10 weeks! I've been wondering how I'm going to make it through this rotation! It's really nice to hear from experienced nurses! Congratulations to everyone!

emilywiese · November 2014

I'm a med surg nurse and I've been having the most trouble with not getting to eat for long periods of time. I've noticed if I go too long, I start to feel very nauseous and shaky and it's even harder to force food that tastes like cardboard down. It's nice there's a group of other nurses going through the same thing in here!

alfyock · November 2014

geanencook said:
I'm in my last two semesters of nursing school and am headed to med surg, ICU, and ER for the next 10 weeks! I've been wondering how I'm going to make it through this rotation! It's really nice to hear from experienced nurses! Congratulations to everyone!

Good luck to you as you start the decent of your nursing school journey!!! You're almost there!! Remember when things get tough and stressful, take a deep breath and take one step a time!! You can do it! Enjoy your time as a student, and your pregnancy!! It will all be worth it!

Cdouglas1 · November 2014

I'm also an ICU nurse & I'm struggling with the same symptoms. The best I can do is munch on pretzels & sip ginger ale. Good luck, hopefully you'll be feeling better soon!

btm013 · November 2014

Bless each one of you!! I am not a nurse but you are all heros! I hope you all have an enjoyable second trimester.

KaraRN · November 2014

I am a surgical ICU nurse and the long consecutive 12 hr shifts are killing me !

BSTmama · November 2014

Ive been ICU the past few years but currently working tele night shift. So far I haven't had MS so I guess I'm fortunate there. Since 90% of our floor is females of child bearing age we have an unspoken rule of no isolation patients when you're preggo....so I've managed to skip out on the cdiff patients. Haven't run into a GI bleed yet but I'm sure it will do me in. So far the worst experience I've had was out of hospital....my sister brought her WET DOG over to my moms house and I had to run to the bathroom. Wet dog smell is atrocious without being pregnant....

trambo78 · November 2014

I'm an ER nurse in Dallas. I wasn't planning on telling anyone at work for awhile, but I decided to tell my supervisor because I was assigned to triage. Not normally a huge deal, but with the whole Ebola problem I figured I needed to tell. We have a new no pregnant nurse rule in patient entry areas now with the Ebola issues. I was told, don't know for sure, there is a 100% fetal demise if mom catches Ebola and 50-60% for Mom. I asked to be temporarily moved out of the department during my pregnancy. IDK how soon that will be happening. I'm just not looking forward to pts with Ebola, TB, K2 overdoses, or ones who are combative while pregnant.

yellow16 · November 2014

PICU/NICU nurse here. Definitely hasn't been easy. I had to tell early because X-ray techs aren't always great about warning when shooting films and I like to have someone looking out for me. I also have to eat super frequently to ward off the nausea so it is extremely hard to snack while busy...and yes...also always paranoid because I know all the bad stuff that can happen.

hetucker · November 2014

Cardiac ICU nurse. I ended up telling my supervisors last week after one of them tried to force me into volunteering for the Ebola team. Another coworker knows since I am constantly nauseated and dry heaving. These 12 hr shifts are killer, plus I have an hour commute. I'm also gonna have to buy bigger scrubs soon to help hide it from everyone else.

bfrank2014 · November 2014

So good to hear all these stories! Glad to know I'm not the only one going through this! I'm going to tell my manager after we hear the babies heart beat this week because I don't think i can hide this much longer, in our ICU we have patients die all the time but yesterday my patient died and I lost it! Everyone was looking at me like I was crazy because we deal
With this sort of thing a lot but I was in tears. Everyone defiantly knows something up!

WhoopsBaby · November 2014

I'm a burn/trauma nurse - talk about smells, it's awful. Never used to bother me, but I feel like I'm hypersensitive to them now. I haven't told anyone and my excuses for why I can't help lift someone's huge patient are getting ridiculous. I know I need to tell management soon, but I wanna tell my family (maybe at Thanksgiving?) before I tell my supervisor and word gets spread around. The 12 hour shifts are knocking me out, too. After 2 or three in a row, I'll sleep for 14 hours, no problem. I'm grateful that this is my first baby and I don't have to care for anyone else when I get home. I don't know how some of you do that!

daze77619 · November 2014

L&D nurse here and it is so hard to make it through a work day. This first trimester is seriously kicking my butt!

scprincessrn · November 2014

trambo78 said:
I'm an ER nurse in Dallas. I wasn't planning on telling anyone at work for awhile, but I decided to tell my supervisor because I was assigned to triage. Not normally a huge deal, but with the whole Ebola problem I figured I needed to tell. We have a new no pregnant nurse rule in patient entry areas now with the Ebola issues. I was told, don't know for sure, there is a 100% fetal demise if mom catches Ebola and 50-60% for Mom. I asked to be temporarily moved out of the department during my pregnancy. IDK how soon that will be happening. I'm just not looking forward to pts with Ebola, TB, K2 overdoses, or ones who are combative while pregnant.

I'm an ER nurse and work in triage a lot also. The only study I could find about ebola and pregnancy was from an outbreak in 1997. It was 100% fatal to the unborn child and only 1 mother out of 18ish that they tracked survived.

My shift yesterday was bad. I had a critical patient and I didn't leave their bedside for 8 hours. Vent, levophed, CTs, the whole 9 yards. By the end on my shift, I was cramping and my legs hurt so bad.

schroead · November 2014

ER nurse here! I can't believe how much 1st tri is changing up my work routine. I'm constantly nauseated and going all day without eating makes it worse. I've already had a few GI bleeds and I gagged each time. Not that they smell like roses when not pregnant but.... blegh. Normally I don't bat an eye at them. I've had to tell a few people so far to avoid chemo patients, but Im keeping it under wraps pretty well!

klkonwi · November 2014

OB L & D nurse here !!! Amniotic fluid sends me running to the bathroom along with everything else !!!! Hang in there.......... It's pretty disgusting and hard to keep a straight face

beinfamous · December 2014

Perinatal nurse here! (about to finish my L&D training soon). I don't know how long I'll be able to hide it but I'm not getting sick just having to start to pee more often. Early on I did want to gag while sending some meconium to the lab. I work nights right now and about to switch back to days which I am so excited for!

tinavonsparkle · December 2014

I told my co-workers last Monday (at 12 weeks) and they have all been wonderful. Without me asking or even hinting they all have gone out of their ways to make my job easier for me. Some won't even let me take the patients feet to move them and I am always given the easier, shorter cases - starting to think I should have got knocked up ages ago!

I love that I work in such a compassionate & caring profession. Keep up the good work fellow nurses! x x x

Jna0407 · December 2014

I'm a NICU nurse. Not only is the smell of baby stool making me sick to my stomach, but I am a nervous Nelly about everything. My co-workers found out early due to x-rays and wanting me to clean isolettes (those cleaning products are harsh). But the advantage is I always get breaks first and I always get my lunch break whenever I want it!

hulagrl461 · December 2014

I just started in the ICU (when I was 6 weeks...am 12 now). At first, I only told the nurse orienting me. I told management when I was 10 weeks. I have had 2 GI bleed patients already, and omg! I couldn't handle it! Also...body odor (smelly feet and pts that clearly haven't been bathed in a while) send me gagging!

mthalken · December 2014

NICU RN here...definetly feeling the night shift sickness and told everyone pretty early on due to patients I couldn't take care of...

We know too much!!

C6091 · December 2014

I'm only a college student doing computing because I don't know what I want to do yet. I quite fancy nursing and I have so much respect for you all. Sorry I didn't have a more interesting story

Life&Gwen · December 2014

Threw up in a trash can midway through clearing an airway, Yonker in hand, still making that awful suction noise. Uggghhhhh.

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