I work on a med/surg unit. Do you think 10 days off work will be enough for me to return to full duty? thanks so much!

well im no RN but CNA and med/ surg in the hospital i was off 2 weeks and no lifting over 10 pounds for 4 weeks and i did great . however you are a RN and dont require heavy lifting as a CNA but listen to your body i was up walking good in 2weeks just take a note from the doctor as a back up not to lift over 10 pounds for 4 weeks that way u can return just with limits. hope that helps a little

I haven't been banded yet, but I'm a nurse on an Intermediate Pulmonary Care Unit and we have some heavy patients. We do a lot of lifting and turning ourselves. I'm planning on taking off 3 weeks, but everyone is different. I have to be able to lift 40 lbs before I can return to work. Not sure if this helps at all, but that's my plan. :biggrin:

oh ok then i would wait til the full 4-6weeks im on the cancer unit so lifting i can relate to take care and god bless you will be fine even when you get clear becarfull the 1st month i kept banging my port from being to close to the beds or bending wrong even to this day it aches every now and then.

I am an RN in the ICU where we also do a lot of heavy lifting. Our hospital has done away with light duty on the unit - you will work as a secretary somewhere else or fold laundry, etc. So I took off 4 weeks - 3 weeks may have been doable with some minor discomfort but I did not want to take a chance.

I work in the CCU...heck I was thinking about going back to work in 3 days..maybe I will rethink that!

I am an rn on a pediatric unit so not too much heavy lifting except with our older kids, but i will say, the first couple of times i was accidentally kicked in my stomach i thought i was going to pass out.

I was originally going to have my surgery on friday and return to work the following tuesday, but since my surgery was rescheduled for a later time, it happened to fall during my two week vacation. I was so glad i had the full two weeks off. I don't think i could have made it back in three to four days afterall. My surgeon didn't recommend it either since we are always on our feet and doing alot of lifting and turning.

The other bit of information that i received from him was that we are at a higher risk for band infections if we come in contact with mrsa infected patients, as well as becoming carriers. He said he realizes how careful we (nurses) are with handwashing, but that in some cases, there have been those that have gotten mrsa, even after the incisions have healed, which caused an infection around the band and early erosion. He suggested more frequent handwashing, wearing gloves even if you don't think you need to and scrubbing with antibacterial soap from head to toe after work. He said he would recommend immediately going home to shower rather than doing other things first, like shopping, etc in our scrubs.

I am sure some of you probably already know this, but i thought i would pass on the info anyway.

Best wishes to all,

stephanie

Stephanie, thanks for the tips about mrsa and taking scrubs off immediately, I will definitely do that.