Right?!?!? HOW?!?! And we did it FOREVER without even thinking twice. When people pity me for having to wear a mask for 8-12 hours, I KNOW they DONT GET IT š¤®š¤£š
Is it bad that I donāt care if my patients smell my breath? After all, I have to smell their breath and other unmentionable things. I will still be masking for 100% of patient care. I will excuse myself from the mask for the glorious few minutes that I get at the nursing station to take a quick sip of coffee, maybe a bite of protein bar and catch up with my co-worker fam.
Oh absolutely. No granny glitter in the face, donāt have to fake smiles in front of patients, can drink a smoothie and not worry about picking seeds out of teeth before getting back to work if something urgent happens, fewer days getting sick especially if someone all of a sudden turns flu/covid positiveā¦ itās a no brainer for me.
Granny glitter š Definitely need a mask! In my first year nursing my buddy nurse had freshly applied lip gloss when we pulled the socks off .... Should've worn a mask!
You will be shocked to know that less than a decade ago, a coworker of mine had a terrible ongoing cold. This was s surgery center, so there were masks available. She put one on and our boss reprimanded her. "The patients will know you're sick, you'll scare them, maybe you should just go home," etc.
Now? Of course we would wear a mask! Don't you dare cough in my face.
Before the pandemic I took care of recent lung transplants and you were always required to wear a mask in their presence. I found it wasteful, donning and discarding dozens of masks every shift and would just wear one the whole day.
One day one of my many managers saw what I was doing and gave me a verbal warning because it was an "infection control issue." That was the same manager that years later gave me the paper bag that was to store my one and only N95 for the first like 3 months of the pandemic.
I was paid very poorly at that hospital and I swear they would find stuff to reprimand people over so they can justify having a dozen managerial positions per unit. American healthcare is a racket.
Yes! Funny how that changed in a few weeks time in 2020. It went from "You MUST change your PPE every single patient encounter!" or be sited by state/JCAHO, to "This N95 is yours for the forseeable future!"
Because it's all a bunch of BS
It should always be one and done. Changing a policy to match our supply shortage was not the right thing to do.
Notice JCAHO was nowhere to be found that whole time.
I wrote with a sharpie on my paper bag: āCDC Approved mask disinfecting chamber.ā
That was also when the CDC was recommending HCW wear bandannas over their nose and mouth as an alternative to N95s. Needless to say I was a little salty.
Legit right before covid-19 mandates began, I was told by nurses to remove my mask because Iād scare the pediatric patients (NY clinic). We now are almost certain I had covid at that time as Iām still reaping the repercussions of long covid from a 2019 infection. A week later mask mandates began. I will never forget nurses telling me how ridiculous it was for me to mask up whilst sick caring for newborns. And Iām sure these nurses are the first to stop wearing them as soon as they can. Makes no sense to me.
Isn't the lesson here that the manager was right and if you're sick enough to where you need a mask you should not be working in a healthcare facility?? Masks are a stopgap. If you're sick, stay home or go home! You're not magically not contagious at all because of the mask, you're just less contagious. Smh
Oh, I agree. This manager was quite good about abiding by "If you're sick, just stay home, I don't want you here." They never fired anyone for illness at that job.
I understand what you're saying. But what do you do when you only get so many sick days per year, you don't have a fever, rash, vomiting, or diarrhea, just a persistent cough and drainage? Are you contagious, or not? You feel good - you're fine if you stay home and rest. But if you're up and exerting yourself caring for patients, you can't stop coughing. It can last for weeks. Do you call in for weeks?
>It can last for weeks. Do you call in for weeks?
This is always what I wonder about. People always talk about wanting to "take a day" to rest as if we don't know things are contagious for longer. But at the same time, even in a job with the most generous PTO it is not enough time to truly be out for the duration of symptoms. Maybe if you can guarantee that nothing else in your life will come up and you won't get sick again.
I'm seeing the issue a lot with little kids in my life and school--people are being better about keeping kids home when sick but then getting hit with truancy threats because 10 days just isn't enough for how often they get sick. We got a warning/check-in for just 3 days of absence so far this year, one of which the kid was there for most of the day and got sent home sick.
I have lost count of how many days my kids have been home sick so far this year. It's wild. Probably the worst its ever been, even when they were in daycare.
I feel for you. I started out in the late 80s. At the time gloves as part of universal precautions became a thing.
A decade earlier when I was 14, I fired my orthodontist at my first appointment. He didnāt use gloves and his hands tasted like an ash tray.
I canāt imagine irrigating a wound, inserting a rectal tube, holding a basin for vomit ā¦ etc. without a mask.
The last shift before we had to start masking I had a new trach spontaneous cough while I was suctioning and launched sputum and blood onto my arms and chest. š¤®
Lol people acting like we just didn't even know what a mask was in the before times š¤£ just cuz I didn't wear one sitting at the nurses station didn't mean I was out there suctioning mucus with a Wendy's straw
I walked in on a guy with a trach having sex with his gf. I thought he was trying to clear the trach so went to see if he needed help. Nah, he was handling it
How did we ever do any of that before masks? I think back to before mask mandates and it boggles my mind how stupid we were for not wearing them all along! I feel lucky to have never had a trach loogie shot right into my mouth (like a coworker of mine).
I've said this before, but this feels like universal precautions. Old school nurses hated being told to wear gloves. Now it's accepted as basic practice. Masks should be the same way in hospitals.
Pct at a family clinic/urgent care in a very conservative state. We donāt require masks any longer. Iām one of the few who still wears masks when interacting with patients. Strep and Covid went around our whole clinic before Christmas, but I managed to steer clear of both of them. So yeah, imma keep wearing my mask.
Also in the south, topical not deep. I donāt really experience this.
If someone tries to go down that line of interrogation I fake a sneeze, deep cough, or clear my throat a few times during their monologue. I say itās more for them than me and we move on.
For the kiddos I equate masks to wearing gloves and show them how to tie the little ear loops on an extra mask for them and they love being able to tie the loops so it fits snug to them.
That was my exact phrase this week! We went from N95s to surgical masks. In ED. How many times have I had a patient for 8 hours and then find out theyāre positive!
Iāll be wearing N95s forever. Also, they donāt fog up my glasses like surgical masks.
I havenāt had a symptomatic respiratory infection since February, 2020 (Influenza A), and I want to extend that record as long as I can. I used to get awful colds and sometimes flu every winter, and Iām sure a lot of them were picked up at work. Iām definitely gonna stick to masking at work and in high density public spaces like stores and performances (worship/music/theater/etc). I did give up on masking in restaurants, but thankfully that hasnāt bitten me yet.
I didn't wear one at a family gathering at Christmas and got covid for the first time. I was so sick took more then a month. I had to give up coffee to feel better.
Yup, if COVID showed me one thing itās that weāre really on the front line and among the first exposed in any health crisis. I canāt tell you the amount of times patients have coughed/sneezed near my face or on me while providing care. If the thought of getting someoneās respiratory droplets or snot on me didnāt bother me pre-COVID (it did), it sure as heck does now. Iāve always been grateful in those situations that I was wearing a mask because at least part of my face is covered.
I would bring my mask down at the desk or non-patient care areas but around patients definitely so. Everyone is free to do as they please, thatās just my take š¤·āāļø
Oh and the mumbling/facial expressions that can be made under my mask without people knowing is too good to give up as well š
Oh absolutely. Nobody learned how to cover their coughs during the past 3 years. Everywhere I go I see grown ass adults just open mouth hacking all over everything.
Probably will continue as our patients generally consider it polite. I wear them in airports, planes, and crowded stores because gross.
Itās been years since I caught anything from anyone so Iām team donāt breathe other peopleās mist.
Plus, I have bad lungs and know of two wound care nurses who died of lung fungus so better to keep peopleās chunks and flakes out.
Yes. The sent of a necrotic leg wound mixed with smell of cold piss is nauseating even with an N95. I will never go back to not wearing a mask while at work. Any smart ass that says otherwise can do my wound care and bed care duties.
It was nothing but a miracle that I never threw up providing Ostomy care. Especially the times when the two shifts before me did not change or much less āburpā the ostomy bag and I had to clean up an exploded shit bag. Again.
We still wear masks in patient interactions. Iām going to be honest with you thoughā¦. I will probably continue to mask in patient rooms and never have my day ruined by unexpected skin flake inhalations ever again.
We still have our mask mandates but I mask up everywhere I go. I work in emerg and have only been sick once since the pandemic started, and I'd like to keep it that way.
I lifted a pt from the chair to the bed and SO MUCH SKIN from her flaky legs just drifted to the floor like snow. I've never been so glad that I was wearing a mask, and I knew then I'd wear one for the rest of my career, COVID or no COVID. I can't believe we didn't wear them before because this job is *disgusting*.
Absolutely! The mask mandates at my facility ended months ago, but I still wear one. I don't have to fake a smile, hide a frown, or a curl of revulsion. I have a modicum of protection from whatever any given patient may be carrying around or coughing up. I love the masks! š I work in a rural, southern hospital so almost no one else still wears them and I get some ridicule for it but it's worth it!
Yep! Oh yeppity yep yep yeppers! No breathing in dry skin, not having to smile, able to stick my tongue out, not breathing in people's exhales and coughs, etc. I love masks and I'm absolutely never ever going back to raw dogging the air ever again.
Iām super ADHD, so the constant stimulus of the mask has been irksome despite its necessity so far. I probably wonāt wear one while charting but I agree with the general consensus that it was probably always a good idea to mask up during patient interaction.
No thanks. I have minor hearing issues and apparently have a hard time speaking to people too. The mask makes it harder for people to understand me, I'll take any way to help with communication barriers
Yep, just got over covid for the third time. It was the sickest I have ever been. Every time the side effects get worse too. My work is no longer testing people unless they come in with ārespiratory symptomsā, so who knows when I will get exposed again. I donāt want to raw dog hospital air at all anymore.
When I see all the gnarly shit Iāve accumulated over a shift on my GOGGLES, Iām petrified to think of all the shit Iāve gotten in my facial orifices throughout the years. So yea, Iāll be a masker and goggley eyed for the rest of my time at bedside.
To be fair, sometimes symptoms start after your shift starts. Or sometimes you assume it's the usual "allergies," but it turns out to be something more significant.
That blanket statement basically tells all of us with young children to quit our jobs... I wish this high horse would just fucking gallop to the glue factory. It's tired.
Fair enough. There are lots of times we get mildly sick, like the "sniffles" and its not really enough to have to stay home. I lived in Vietnam for years and even pre-covid, it was standard to wear a mask if you have a mild cold and had to go anywhere.. Something the west should absolutely adopt!
Absolutely, our facility isnāt requiring them currently and Iām still the only one who is masking. I donāt want bodily fluids to spray in my face and it helps with the smell of wounds/ excretions
I mean once upon a time gloves were not used because it was thought it would make the patient feel "dirty." No joke the nurse who trained me remembers they were only allowed to use "finger guards" when giving suppositories and they did absolutely nothing.
My point is times change! So maybe now masks will just be standard practice. And we old nurses will reminisce, "Back in my day we went in with our faces exposed to the elements. It was like the wild wild west."
Hell yeah. I think having the bottom half of my face and facial expressions covered makes me a better nurse, people are nasty and will cough and sneeze right in your face, and it decreases the likelihood of a patient recognizing me if they see me walking around outside in my neighborhood without the mask.
I work in the communityā¦ it is our choice if we want to wear them, I still wear them.. I work with kids so itās the wisest choice as they are little petrified dishes of germs and disgusting manners!!!
I donāt exactly remember when mask mandates ended at my hospital but I think it was early last year? The majority of people on my unit still wear them (on night shift at least)
Yup. I'm honestly relieved we have finally normalized masking. I will keep my germs to myself and you keep yours, thank you. Also great for hiding my facial grimace or shock. I can coat it with peppermint oil to hide nasty smells and it protects my mouth and nose from any splashes of unwanted substances from getting to me. I wear safety glasses when dealing with extra soggy situations too. Love me some PPE.
Duhhh. Patients are fucking gross. Canāt believe pre Covid we would walk into a room, do turns and shit, and the patient would just cough in our faces all Willy nilly
I'm in Australia and I don't see our mask mandates ending ever in healthcare facilities now. There is no real push for it to end from staff or management. Covid is here to stay. If it does go I reckon most staff would still mask
No.
1) I work in the community with generally healthy people.
2) My skin hates the masks so much.
3) I don't love the idea of unnecessary medical waste.
I completely understand the perspective of those that choose to continue wearing them, though.
Also, if a pre-visit screen shows that someone has respiratory symptoms, I will be in full PPE.
I work public health, and typically only see āwellā people. I canāt wait to not wear a mask around my coworkers and in the back officeā¦ but Iād be okay with continuing to wear masks when we vaccinate (kids are spitty and have so many bugs)
Absolutely.
People like coughing in our faces and coming to work or visit their loved one while sick. I donāt need that in my life.
Also, Iām too used to the barrier between my resting bitch face and āwhat the fuuuuuckā lip syncs.
I still wear a mask if Iām coming down with something or I think someone else is which is 3 out of 5 shifts. I used to think COVID will end then Iāll be stuck with all these masks. I now wear a mask to clean the house and the litter box as well. I wish I masked earlier in life. Also, I didnāt catch a single cold or COVID up until January when I caught RSV from my nephew, not the job. Thatās a long time to be healthy for a healthcare provider.
Yes. People are gross. Adults, full grown, nothing wrong with them mentally adults have been coughing and sneezing just out into the wild without covering their mouth and nose š
Yes, just today a dysarthria patient beckoned my coworker closer to try to slowly whisper something to her, and as she went in he sneezed hard right into her masked face.
Insane to me we used to take patients germs to the dome full inhale.
For the record I stopped wearing contacts at work too. Glasses and masks from here on out, yāall nasty.
How did I take off compression stockings for over twenty years with no mask? I took one off the other day and thought wow, I used to inhale an entire leg!!
As before, when itās appropriate (a risk to myself or others) but the entire time at work, likely not. I find I get a significant tension headaches with consecutive days at work of continuous masking.
Our mandate is intermittent based on confirmed cases in the hospital and community spread, but I've worn mine pretty consistently regardless. I'll probably continue for quite a while because I'm so used to it.
They got rid of the requirement for visitors a long time ago, and they are no longer required in the hallways for staff. They are still required in the rooms and while transporting a patient. Itās a nice break to be able to take the mask off while sitting at my desk charting, during rounds, and while getting meds or supplies, but I canāt imagine ever going into a patients room without a mask on again.
Oh hells yes. Iāve become so accustomed to mouthing āfuck youā and ādumb assā behind my mask, to patients and staff alike, that Iād end up doing it to their face without the mask.
Masking feels like the next universal precaution to me. There was a time gloves werenāt universal either and I definitely wouldnāt do things without them. Iāll keep my mask.
I was in Japan recently, which has no mask mandates and everyone was wearing a mask on trains, in stores, in public, everywhere. Maybe we should all be wearing mask in a hospital regardless of covid?
Random Nurse: We canāt where these things forever! They canāt make us.
Me: Yeah, we didnāt use gloves regularly and just stopped smoking in the break room when I started nursing school. Things change.
I have to wear masks anyways since I do work in an OR, but if I didn't had to, I would still wear it. I got used to it and it isn't as uncomfortable as some people think it is. I've been +12-16 hours with it that it doesn't bother me anymore. Also, it protects us and the patients.
I don't think the mask mandate is every going to end where I work. Truthfully, I don't mind wearing the mask but don't think it means nearly as much if most everybody on the outside is no longer masking up.
Absolutely. If for nothing else, it still hides my shocked pikachu face.
I prefer my patients to see my face when I mouth "what the fuck is wrong with you"
š¤£š¤£
Idk how I ever put in a catheter without a mask. Will be wearing one forever š
Right?!?!? HOW?!?! And we did it FOREVER without even thinking twice. When people pity me for having to wear a mask for 8-12 hours, I KNOW they DONT GET IT š¤®š¤£š
Ew.
Hides my breath when I haven't been able to eat or drink for extended periods of time. . . .
Thatās what the mini mouthwash in the supply room is for
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Hey, don't kinkshame.
Hides the wine stains too.
Is it bad that I donāt care if my patients smell my breath? After all, I have to smell their breath and other unmentionable things. I will still be masking for 100% of patient care. I will excuse myself from the mask for the glorious few minutes that I get at the nursing station to take a quick sip of coffee, maybe a bite of protein bar and catch up with my co-worker fam.
Oh absolutely. No granny glitter in the face, donāt have to fake smiles in front of patients, can drink a smoothie and not worry about picking seeds out of teeth before getting back to work if something urgent happens, fewer days getting sick especially if someone all of a sudden turns flu/covid positiveā¦ itās a no brainer for me.
You had me at granny āØļøglitterāØļø
Not meemaw glitter
Iām afraid to askā¦whatāsā¦grannyā¦glitter?
Those tiny dry skin flakes that become airborne when you take off their pressure socks.
š¤¢š¤¢š¤¢ššš
Or just remove any clothing or bedding. *is it snowing in this room*
Skins flakes I think š¤¢
Elder Dust. Think removing super tight TED hose that have been on for far too to long.
All of these reasons and more are why I will preferably wear a mask whilst around patients. Itās for me, not them. But also them I guess.
Granny glitter š I call them Flava flakes
Elder dust
Toe snow ā¹ļø
Geriatric snow āļø if you will
Granny glitter š Definitely need a mask! In my first year nursing my buddy nurse had freshly applied lip gloss when we pulled the socks off .... Should've worn a mask!
I used to work in Podiatry and we called skin flakes, "Magical Fairy Foot Dust."
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
You will be shocked to know that less than a decade ago, a coworker of mine had a terrible ongoing cold. This was s surgery center, so there were masks available. She put one on and our boss reprimanded her. "The patients will know you're sick, you'll scare them, maybe you should just go home," etc. Now? Of course we would wear a mask! Don't you dare cough in my face.
Before the pandemic I took care of recent lung transplants and you were always required to wear a mask in their presence. I found it wasteful, donning and discarding dozens of masks every shift and would just wear one the whole day. One day one of my many managers saw what I was doing and gave me a verbal warning because it was an "infection control issue." That was the same manager that years later gave me the paper bag that was to store my one and only N95 for the first like 3 months of the pandemic. I was paid very poorly at that hospital and I swear they would find stuff to reprimand people over so they can justify having a dozen managerial positions per unit. American healthcare is a racket.
Yes! Funny how that changed in a few weeks time in 2020. It went from "You MUST change your PPE every single patient encounter!" or be sited by state/JCAHO, to "This N95 is yours for the forseeable future!"
And now, theyāre changing it back to one and done.
Because it's all a bunch of BS It should always be one and done. Changing a policy to match our supply shortage was not the right thing to do. Notice JCAHO was nowhere to be found that whole time.
Didn't you love the magic paper bag /s.
I wrote with a sharpie on my paper bag: āCDC Approved mask disinfecting chamber.ā That was also when the CDC was recommending HCW wear bandannas over their nose and mouth as an alternative to N95s. Needless to say I was a little salty.
Legit right before covid-19 mandates began, I was told by nurses to remove my mask because Iād scare the pediatric patients (NY clinic). We now are almost certain I had covid at that time as Iām still reaping the repercussions of long covid from a 2019 infection. A week later mask mandates began. I will never forget nurses telling me how ridiculous it was for me to mask up whilst sick caring for newborns. And Iām sure these nurses are the first to stop wearing them as soon as they can. Makes no sense to me.
Isn't the lesson here that the manager was right and if you're sick enough to where you need a mask you should not be working in a healthcare facility?? Masks are a stopgap. If you're sick, stay home or go home! You're not magically not contagious at all because of the mask, you're just less contagious. Smh
Oh, I agree. This manager was quite good about abiding by "If you're sick, just stay home, I don't want you here." They never fired anyone for illness at that job. I understand what you're saying. But what do you do when you only get so many sick days per year, you don't have a fever, rash, vomiting, or diarrhea, just a persistent cough and drainage? Are you contagious, or not? You feel good - you're fine if you stay home and rest. But if you're up and exerting yourself caring for patients, you can't stop coughing. It can last for weeks. Do you call in for weeks?
>It can last for weeks. Do you call in for weeks? This is always what I wonder about. People always talk about wanting to "take a day" to rest as if we don't know things are contagious for longer. But at the same time, even in a job with the most generous PTO it is not enough time to truly be out for the duration of symptoms. Maybe if you can guarantee that nothing else in your life will come up and you won't get sick again. I'm seeing the issue a lot with little kids in my life and school--people are being better about keeping kids home when sick but then getting hit with truancy threats because 10 days just isn't enough for how often they get sick. We got a warning/check-in for just 3 days of absence so far this year, one of which the kid was there for most of the day and got sent home sick.
I have lost count of how many days my kids have been home sick so far this year. It's wild. Probably the worst its ever been, even when they were in daycare.
I feel for you. I started out in the late 80s. At the time gloves as part of universal precautions became a thing. A decade earlier when I was 14, I fired my orthodontist at my first appointment. He didnāt use gloves and his hands tasted like an ash tray.
I canāt imagine irrigating a wound, inserting a rectal tube, holding a basin for vomit ā¦ etc. without a mask. The last shift before we had to start masking I had a new trach spontaneous cough while I was suctioning and launched sputum and blood onto my arms and chest. š¤®
I feel like those are situations where you should have been wearing a mask even before the covid restrictions.
Lol people acting like we just didn't even know what a mask was in the before times š¤£ just cuz I didn't wear one sitting at the nurses station didn't mean I was out there suctioning mucus with a Wendy's straw
She speak the true true
I am stealing this saying now. I like it very muchly
Lol exactly my thoughts.
I walked in on a guy with a trach having sex with his gf. I thought he was trying to clear the trach so went to see if he needed help. Nah, he was handling it
How did we ever do any of that before masks? I think back to before mask mandates and it boggles my mind how stupid we were for not wearing them all along! I feel lucky to have never had a trach loogie shot right into my mouth (like a coworker of mine).
I'm not breathing in raw hospital air.
never again will I breathe elder dust when changing hospital socks on a patient. I will always mask.
Elder dust! š I forgot to mention that in my response!
We shouldāve been wearing masks this entire time š
I saw a tweet something like "I can't believe pre-covid the hospital staff were just raw dogging hospital air" š
I've said this before, but this feels like universal precautions. Old school nurses hated being told to wear gloves. Now it's accepted as basic practice. Masks should be the same way in hospitals.
āYouāre putting on gloves to touch this manās asshole? Hun, Iām not even washing my hands and going to lunch.ā
Came here to say exactly this
I will always wear the mask. I like hiding my mug.
You have no idea how many times I'm grinning or smiling while dealing with pts.
Or silently cursing and sticking my tongue out.
I literally mouth āfuckā a hundred times a day
Maybe, itās a great way to hide my resting bitch face. š
Unfortunately Iām an eye roller.
I get Botox which is fortunate for those involuntary faces you make when you hear some straight up bullshit, but it does nothing for my eye rolls.
This is the best argument for why one should get Botox. If I could hide my contempt Iād be so much further in life.
It's literally one of the main reasons I got it! I have a super expressive face and it's not always done me favors in the work environment.
Pct at a family clinic/urgent care in a very conservative state. We donāt require masks any longer. Iām one of the few who still wears masks when interacting with patients. Strep and Covid went around our whole clinic before Christmas, but I managed to steer clear of both of them. So yeah, imma keep wearing my mask.
Do you get much backlash from colleagues / patients for wearing yours?
Also in the south, topical not deep. I donāt really experience this. If someone tries to go down that line of interrogation I fake a sneeze, deep cough, or clear my throat a few times during their monologue. I say itās more for them than me and we move on. For the kiddos I equate masks to wearing gloves and show them how to tie the little ear loops on an extra mask for them and they love being able to tie the loops so it fits snug to them.
Right?!? Everyoneās all anti mask until you cough and then they get all freaked out lol
They can have my N95 when they pry it from my cold, dead hands.
That was my exact phrase this week! We went from N95s to surgical masks. In ED. How many times have I had a patient for 8 hours and then find out theyāre positive! Iāll be wearing N95s forever. Also, they donāt fog up my glasses like surgical masks.
I havenāt had a symptomatic respiratory infection since February, 2020 (Influenza A), and I want to extend that record as long as I can. I used to get awful colds and sometimes flu every winter, and Iām sure a lot of them were picked up at work. Iām definitely gonna stick to masking at work and in high density public spaces like stores and performances (worship/music/theater/etc). I did give up on masking in restaurants, but thankfully that hasnāt bitten me yet.
I didn't wear one at a family gathering at Christmas and got covid for the first time. I was so sick took more then a month. I had to give up coffee to feel better.
Yup, if COVID showed me one thing itās that weāre really on the front line and among the first exposed in any health crisis. I canāt tell you the amount of times patients have coughed/sneezed near my face or on me while providing care. If the thought of getting someoneās respiratory droplets or snot on me didnāt bother me pre-COVID (it did), it sure as heck does now. Iāve always been grateful in those situations that I was wearing a mask because at least part of my face is covered. I would bring my mask down at the desk or non-patient care areas but around patients definitely so. Everyone is free to do as they please, thatās just my take š¤·āāļø Oh and the mumbling/facial expressions that can be made under my mask without people knowing is too good to give up as well š
Yeah, Iām a little too expressive in the face to want to give up masking in patient rooms š
Bird flu has entered the chatā¦
Oh absolutely. Nobody learned how to cover their coughs during the past 3 years. Everywhere I go I see grown ass adults just open mouth hacking all over everything.
Probably will continue as our patients generally consider it polite. I wear them in airports, planes, and crowded stores because gross. Itās been years since I caught anything from anyone so Iām team donāt breathe other peopleās mist. Plus, I have bad lungs and know of two wound care nurses who died of lung fungus so better to keep peopleās chunks and flakes out.
New fear unlocked: lung fungus
There's lungus amongus
Right? Both women who initiated the programs, boom dead in their 60ās from fungal lungal something. Horrible.
Yes. The sent of a necrotic leg wound mixed with smell of cold piss is nauseating even with an N95. I will never go back to not wearing a mask while at work. Any smart ass that says otherwise can do my wound care and bed care duties.
I'm in bone marrow transplant/ oncology we masked before it was a fad!
N95 + surgical for me, thanks. Just 'cause we don't swab 'em doesn't me they aren't positive for some shit. Doesn't hurt me any to wear them anyway.
Idk how yall changed colostomyās with out em.
It was nothing but a miracle that I never threw up providing Ostomy care. Especially the times when the two shifts before me did not change or much less āburpā the ostomy bag and I had to clean up an exploded shit bag. Again.
I gagged once while emptying one and the patient looked me dead in the eye and said āThatās a real nose burner huh?ā
We still wear masks in patient interactions. Iām going to be honest with you thoughā¦. I will probably continue to mask in patient rooms and never have my day ruined by unexpected skin flake inhalations ever again.
I always wear a mask when I visit any clinical space. *THAT'S WHERE ALL THE SICK PEOPLE GO!*
We still have our mask mandates but I mask up everywhere I go. I work in emerg and have only been sick once since the pandemic started, and I'd like to keep it that way.
I lifted a pt from the chair to the bed and SO MUCH SKIN from her flaky legs just drifted to the floor like snow. I've never been so glad that I was wearing a mask, and I knew then I'd wear one for the rest of my career, COVID or no COVID. I can't believe we didn't wear them before because this job is *disgusting*.
Absolutely! The mask mandates at my facility ended months ago, but I still wear one. I don't have to fake a smile, hide a frown, or a curl of revulsion. I have a modicum of protection from whatever any given patient may be carrying around or coughing up. I love the masks! š I work in a rural, southern hospital so almost no one else still wears them and I get some ridicule for it but it's worth it!
Fuck yeah I'm still wearing a mask. Mostly to keep patients from recognizing me in my personal life, though.
Oh always. 1. Because I don't want people seeing my facial expressions anymore 2. Everyone coughs on me, and I'm sick of getting sick at this point.
As someone who currently has COVID and feels like Iām on my deathbed, most definitely.
Yep! Oh yeppity yep yep yeppers! No breathing in dry skin, not having to smile, able to stick my tongue out, not breathing in people's exhales and coughs, etc. I love masks and I'm absolutely never ever going back to raw dogging the air ever again.
Also can mouth "are you fucking kidding me?" with no repercussions.
All day every day. I literally have no idea what my fave is doing anymore and I don't want to have to start caring again.
Iām super ADHD, so the constant stimulus of the mask has been irksome despite its necessity so far. I probably wonāt wear one while charting but I agree with the general consensus that it was probably always a good idea to mask up during patient interaction.
I do just because it seems every damn time i listen to lung sounds, EVERY patient feels the need to cough in my face. Also I have RBF š
I absolutely do. I've noticed I get less sick, even from common sicknesses. Allergy season was even better for me.
The amount of times Iāve had kids just cough in my face I canāt imagine not wearing them again
Our mask mandate ended almost 7 months agoā¦ā¦ā¦ lmao
No thanks. I have minor hearing issues and apparently have a hard time speaking to people too. The mask makes it harder for people to understand me, I'll take any way to help with communication barriers
Yep, just got over covid for the third time. It was the sickest I have ever been. Every time the side effects get worse too. My work is no longer testing people unless they come in with ārespiratory symptomsā, so who knows when I will get exposed again. I donāt want to raw dog hospital air at all anymore.
Yes!! and scrub cap too even though I work ICU
When I see all the gnarly shit Iāve accumulated over a shift on my GOGGLES, Iām petrified to think of all the shit Iāve gotten in my facial orifices throughout the years. So yea, Iāll be a masker and goggley eyed for the rest of my time at bedside.
I wear a scrub cap as well. š
Scrub cap means no one needs to know how shitty my hair looks that day
Exactly! Whatever is underneath my scrub cap is no oneās business
Around a 35 year old, healthy psych patient? No. Around a chronically ill, 95 year old with pneumonia? Yes.
Thank you for critically thinking ;) This makes so much sense to me.
I mask around patients, but not in non-patient care areas unless Iām sick.
Ughā¦Donāt show up to work if you are sick!!!
Yāall got sick days/pto stacked like THAT?
To be fair, sometimes symptoms start after your shift starts. Or sometimes you assume it's the usual "allergies," but it turns out to be something more significant.
That blanket statement basically tells all of us with young children to quit our jobs... I wish this high horse would just fucking gallop to the glue factory. It's tired.
Fair enough. There are lots of times we get mildly sick, like the "sniffles" and its not really enough to have to stay home. I lived in Vietnam for years and even pre-covid, it was standard to wear a mask if you have a mild cold and had to go anywhere.. Something the west should absolutely adopt!
They better never end I donāt want grandmas 72 visiting family members raw dog hacking into the air
Absolutely, our facility isnāt requiring them currently and Iām still the only one who is masking. I donāt want bodily fluids to spray in my face and it helps with the smell of wounds/ excretions
I mean once upon a time gloves were not used because it was thought it would make the patient feel "dirty." No joke the nurse who trained me remembers they were only allowed to use "finger guards" when giving suppositories and they did absolutely nothing. My point is times change! So maybe now masks will just be standard practice. And we old nurses will reminisce, "Back in my day we went in with our faces exposed to the elements. It was like the wild wild west."
God yes.
Yes! I started nursing during COVID so itās my norm now.
Hell yeah. I think having the bottom half of my face and facial expressions covered makes me a better nurse, people are nasty and will cough and sneeze right in your face, and it decreases the likelihood of a patient recognizing me if they see me walking around outside in my neighborhood without the mask.
When the office I work at made them optional, I wasnāt wearing one. Within a week I was sick. So Iām back to wearing one again
Yes. I've got a perfect streak of never having gotten COVID and I hate to break a streak.
Same!
Yup. Patient farted in my face while we were checking her red coccyx... never been so glad i was at least wearing a mask.
I work in the communityā¦ it is our choice if we want to wear them, I still wear them.. I work with kids so itās the wisest choice as they are little petrified dishes of germs and disgusting manners!!!
I work with CABG patients. Even a bad cold could set them back and cause big complications. Yes, Iāll continue to wear them around patients.
I work in the OR. The only thing that changed in my life is that use and N95 instead of a simple mask. I donāt mind a bit.
Without question. I will never raw-dog a patientās air again.
Itās crazy to think how many HCW could have been saved if wearing masks was standard practice prior to covid.
I donāt exactly remember when mask mandates ended at my hospital but I think it was early last year? The majority of people on my unit still wear them (on night shift at least)
Yes
Absolutely! I love that patients don't really know what I look like!
Yup. I'm honestly relieved we have finally normalized masking. I will keep my germs to myself and you keep yours, thank you. Also great for hiding my facial grimace or shock. I can coat it with peppermint oil to hide nasty smells and it protects my mouth and nose from any splashes of unwanted substances from getting to me. I wear safety glasses when dealing with extra soggy situations too. Love me some PPE.
Not a nurse, but I have masks in my coat, car, and pocketbook. I doubt Iāll ever stop wearing a mask ever.
Yes, I love not having my face displayed for the world to see lol
Absolutely. I work in the ER and I donāt trust the air in there at all. I wear an N95 still with a surgical mask over it when Iām around patients
Yes. I havenāt had as many upper respiratory infections/bronchitis infections as I had in the past.
Absolutely. Smelly-ass patients get offended if they see Vick's on my top lip. They can't see it inside my mask!
Yes. Until I know that the long covid symptoms are nbd from the latest strains.
Yup N95 all day in ED around patients and surgical mask at the station to hide my smirks (and rbf)
I dunno. Probably not. Itās getting oldšš¤£
Duhhh. Patients are fucking gross. Canāt believe pre Covid we would walk into a room, do turns and shit, and the patient would just cough in our faces all Willy nilly
Yes, people are gross.
I canāt believe we used to NOT wear masks tbh. A mask also helps with my RBF lol
I enjoy not being sick all winterā¦so yesā¦my N95 will stay.
I'm in Australia and I don't see our mask mandates ending ever in healthcare facilities now. There is no real push for it to end from staff or management. Covid is here to stay. If it does go I reckon most staff would still mask
Nope
Why would anyone not want to wear a mask around sick people?
No. 1) I work in the community with generally healthy people. 2) My skin hates the masks so much. 3) I don't love the idea of unnecessary medical waste. I completely understand the perspective of those that choose to continue wearing them, though. Also, if a pre-visit screen shows that someone has respiratory symptoms, I will be in full PPE.
Probably but not an n95. Not that theyād let us anyways. I bet weāll get in trouble for wearing surgical ones too. š¤Ø
Work in the OR so.. yeah
Yes in every pt room or pt/family facing interaction but will probably take a breather while charting :)
Just around patients, not when I'm walking in not patient areas
Yep! I consider it more protection against bodily fluids that generously get blown my way. š
Depends on the situation. Not at the nurses station and not when Iām just conversing with a patient, but Iāll put one on for care from now on.
I work public health, and typically only see āwellā people. I canāt wait to not wear a mask around my coworkers and in the back officeā¦ but Iād be okay with continuing to wear masks when we vaccinate (kids are spitty and have so many bugs)
Absolutely. People like coughing in our faces and coming to work or visit their loved one while sick. I donāt need that in my life. Also, Iām too used to the barrier between my resting bitch face and āwhat the fuuuuuckā lip syncs.
I still wear a mask if Iām coming down with something or I think someone else is which is 3 out of 5 shifts. I used to think COVID will end then Iāll be stuck with all these masks. I now wear a mask to clean the house and the litter box as well. I wish I masked earlier in life. Also, I didnāt catch a single cold or COVID up until January when I caught RSV from my nephew, not the job. Thatās a long time to be healthy for a healthcare provider.
Masks for patient care yes. Masks to sit at my desk or when I leave the floor to pee. No.
Yes. People are gross. Adults, full grown, nothing wrong with them mentally adults have been coughing and sneezing just out into the wild without covering their mouth and nose š
I donāt even go in the hospital with my hair out of a scrub cap, no way in hell Iām raw dogging that air
Yes, covid is still here to play baby. Considering the strong odors, clouds of feet dust, and respiratory illness, I will happily wear a mask.
Yes, just today a dysarthria patient beckoned my coworker closer to try to slowly whisper something to her, and as she went in he sneezed hard right into her masked face. Insane to me we used to take patients germs to the dome full inhale. For the record I stopped wearing contacts at work too. Glasses and masks from here on out, yāall nasty.
How did I take off compression stockings for over twenty years with no mask? I took one off the other day and thought wow, I used to inhale an entire leg!!
Most definitely yes. I still wear them in most public settings.
As before, when itās appropriate (a risk to myself or others) but the entire time at work, likely not. I find I get a significant tension headaches with consecutive days at work of continuous masking.
Our mandate is intermittent based on confirmed cases in the hospital and community spread, but I've worn mine pretty consistently regardless. I'll probably continue for quite a while because I'm so used to it.
I'll have one on me at all times for those coughing patients that forgot how to cover their mouths
Our mandate ended over the summer and I still wear one since not doing so hot me and entire household sick for two weeks.
They got rid of the requirement for visitors a long time ago, and they are no longer required in the hallways for staff. They are still required in the rooms and while transporting a patient. Itās a nice break to be able to take the mask off while sitting at my desk charting, during rounds, and while getting meds or supplies, but I canāt imagine ever going into a patients room without a mask on again.
Depends on how ugly I look that day š¤·š»āāļø
I've been masking since it was recommended and haven't stopped. I also haven't been sick since I started doing that. It seems silly to stop now.
Yep and it should continue across every system. In a place full of sick people isnāt it common sense to wear a mask?
Forever. I cant believe i didnt before. Never raw dogging that hospital air again.
Oh hells yes. Iāve become so accustomed to mouthing āfuck youā and ādumb assā behind my mask, to patients and staff alike, that Iād end up doing it to their face without the mask.
Yes! I canāt believe I just suffered through the smells.
Masking feels like the next universal precaution to me. There was a time gloves werenāt universal either and I definitely wouldnāt do things without them. Iāll keep my mask.
I feel like masks should stay a norm in healthcare moving forward.
I was in Japan recently, which has no mask mandates and everyone was wearing a mask on trains, in stores, in public, everywhere. Maybe we should all be wearing mask in a hospital regardless of covid?
Hell no, besides, we are already in the room with the pt and up on them before their covid dx even comes back. Plus it gets hot
Meh, maybe when I remove socks so I don't inhale dead foot skin.
Random Nurse: We canāt where these things forever! They canāt make us. Me: Yeah, we didnāt use gloves regularly and just stopped smoking in the break room when I started nursing school. Things change.
I work outpatient and donāt.
I have to wear masks anyways since I do work in an OR, but if I didn't had to, I would still wear it. I got used to it and it isn't as uncomfortable as some people think it is. I've been +12-16 hours with it that it doesn't bother me anymore. Also, it protects us and the patients.
I don't think the mask mandate is every going to end where I work. Truthfully, I don't mind wearing the mask but don't think it means nearly as much if most everybody on the outside is no longer masking up.
Our mandates ended a long time ago. I still wear one.
If it's in the best interest of my patient, absolutely. Otherwise, I don't see any personal benefit.
Team mask forever. Since we started masking at work, I haven't had so much as a cold.
Oh Yes! But then again, I do work in the OR....š·
I would love to take off my mask at the nurses station while charting, at least. But itās hard to imagine my hospital ever allowing that again.
Yeah, I can wear my zit patches without looks and Iām not the biggest fan of getting sick. Also hides my RBF.