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Where are my fellow nurses at??

kmd0501kmd0501 member
in May 2016 Moms
how do you ladies overcome the nausea that can hit you at any minute in the hospital?!

I'm working in Philadelphia (all weekend) so I have to stay since the Pope is in town. I've been feeling great and all of a sudden I was in a patients room and this unbelievable wave of nausea hit me. Perfect timing. This is going to be a long weekend.

Does anything help to get you ladies through a shift without barfing in your patients room?
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Re: Where are my fellow nurses at??

  • egriffithrnegriffithrn member
    Representing right here! I struggle the most when doing the random night shift -- I can't sleep because I'm nauseated, and then nauseated all night too. I'm living off the floor stock graham crackers tonight -- so hard to think about eating a real meal. I at least work on a maternal/newborn floor, so most patients understand my predicament if I choose to share. Good luck to you!
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  • nbgmomnbgmom member
    Sour candy, like ice breakers sours, are helpful. And alcohol prep pads! Keep a couple in your pocket and sniff it when you get nauseous. It helps!
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  • laurenmdrn16laurenmdrn16 member
    nbgmom said:

    Sour candy, like ice breakers sours, are helpful. And alcohol prep pads! Keep a couple in your pocket and sniff it when you get nauseous. It helps!

    You're not a real nurse unless you always somehow have a pocket full of alcohol prep pads! I am now in an elementary school and I still have to remember to fish them out of my pockets while doing laundry!

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  • dayslikethisonedayslikethisone member
    Following- I have had a few days off but am supposed to work three nights in a row and can't imagine how I will do it. My fatigue and nausea are overwhelming. Nothing helps the all day sickness.
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  • nbgmomnbgmom member
    This is my 3rd pregnancy and I have been a night nurse through all of them, the first 2 in ER and now L&D. I had wicked morning sickness that lasted pretty much the entire 9 months with my first 2, so this is kind of my specialty :)) Keeping small, protein rich snacks is key. Nuts, pretzels, peanut butter, etc. Every time you take a potty break, sneak a piece or 2. Preventing your stomach from getting too empty or too full is important. Also, I did use sea sickness bands for the first one, and ended up with stage 1 pressure sores, but they really did help. The 2nd time around we weren't allowed to wear anything on our wrists, so that was out. As I said before, sour candies are helpful. They sell "preggie pops" but they are really expensive, so if you take a bag of sour patch kids, or the ice breaker sours, those are helpful as well. Good luck!!
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  • kmd0501kmd0501 member
    Thanks ladies. I'm pediatric oncology so my kids just puke all day (and night), among other things, and having to stay this weekend is stressing me out and only making it worse. It really wouldn't be too fabulous if the nurse taking care of the puking kids started puking too. Surprisingly, I was eating some sour candy but I will have to try the alcohol trick later.
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  • ColtsFan4Life06ColtsFan4Life06 member
    edited September 2015
    I am a pediatric nurse on night shift at a children's hospital. This is my 2nd pregnancy and currently too early to determine if the vomiting/nausea will be bad, but last pregnancy it was terrible. I vomited all the time and ended up losing 25 lbs in the first 2 trimesters. Some of my tricks were eating a graham cracker or saltine cracker every couple of hours, sucking on the small white peppermint rings, zofran (I know not this pregnancy
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  • egriffithrnegriffithrn member
    Tonight I'm trying hard ginger candy, and so far it's helping.
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  • kmd0501kmd0501 member
    @nbgmom I have to say I am extremely impressed with the effectiveness of alcohol pads. I never would have guessed! Definitely saved me tonight. Thanks!
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  • nbgmomnbgmom member
    kmd0501 said:

    @nbgmom I have to say I am extremely impressed with the effectiveness of alcohol pads. I never would have guessed! Definitely saved me tonight. Thanks!

    It's a labor and delivery trick I've used myself several times! Glad it helped!!
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  • kmcchskmcchs member
    Wow. Peds oncology-- Bless you!!

    I work on an adult CT surgery stepdown unit and I keep skittles and peppermints in my scrub pockets. I work nights, and my nausea is worse during the day, so thankfully it doesn't hit me too hard while at work. I've definitely had to spill the beans at my job though to a few patients when I thought things may get a little hairy. Lol. My boss and most of my coworkers know I'm expecting as well, due to restrictions on certain patients, etc.

    Best of luck to all of us!
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  • MrsO11/24/2006MrsO11/24/2006 member
    I totally had to leave work last night after only 4 hours b/c I puked 6 times one when I was pulling into work all over myself..I had to get some scrubs from L&D!  I work on a very busy PCU..My work knows b/c of the patients I can't have...no fun no fun at all
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  • LemmyRNLemmyRN member
    edited September 2015
    Alcohol pads definitely. And a good thing smelling salts are fairly close by just in case. Those ginger candies do work, even if it's only short term. I have a sour apple gum from Extra that's pretty good during assessments. Since I cheek it when with patients and don't smack like a cow it's not an issue. Frequent small meals!!! If my stomach gets too empty the nausea gets bad. I love those Fiber One snacks. Quaker has high protein oatmeal packs that are not loaded with sugar; banana nut is my favorite and tastes like banana bread. The real reason I take such a large bag to work is cause it's loaded with snacks hahaha. Always prepared :-B
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  • LemmyRNLemmyRN member
    9 weeks tomorrow, and kinda tempted to use the Doppler while on break to hear the FHT. I'm hesitating though because I have not informed anyone at work yet, and it would be an obvious giveaway if someone saw. It would be nice though.
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  • nbgmomnbgmom member
    I wouldn't if I were you. It's so early you may just give yourself undue stress if you can't find it
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  • LemmyRNLemmyRN member
    I have experience finding FHTs on antenatal pt.s, so that wouldn't be a big deal; but yes I think I will hold off. I don't want to feel like I need to be sneaky to use it.
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  • nbgmomnbgmom member
    You've found them on 9 weepers? That is impressive! The best I've been able to achieve is 11 weeks. Bravo!
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  • quincquail86quincquail86 member
    Had a puking pt in PICU last three nights on night shifts...thought I was going to share her puke bucket with her, but sour patch kids on hand helped a lot
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  • kmd0501kmd0501 member
    The alcohol pads have been the best trick to date! I've also been keeping some lifesaver mints handy too but I think I just eat them because they taste so good.
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  • LemmyRNLemmyRN member
    I did the Doppler last night. I had a little down time and was curious. It was so great to be able to hear the heart for a few minutes. I wasn't stressed at work but hearing the heart brought such a sense of peace and happiness. I definitely recommend it. :x
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