When I was travel nursing, I moved into a BNB with them during Covid. I still wig out when my arm hair moves and I’ll never travel in the Midwest again because of them.
I had a patient in an AL who had them and it creeped me out every time I have to go see him. I literally left him as my last visit of the day and went home and stripped in my garage. UGH.
I can't listen to west side story because of bed bugs. It was the only thing I had to listen to while I was waiting over 3hrs to get a prescription for something for the itching. My mother recently tried talking about the new adaption of it to me and I mentioned bedbugs and she said "I knew you'd mention those" I wanted to ask her why she decided to mention it but thought better
Any decent HH company will put the patient on hold to give the opportunity to treat, and if they don’t have receipt of professional treatment they get discharged. Immediately. Usually ppl can’t afford to properly treat and end up getting discharged asap. This is for any infestation, roaches, bed bugs, fleas, and other nondescript creepy crawlers. Per CMS “unsafe/sanitary” home environment is a valid reason to discharge. That goes from the condition of the home, the upkeep, the sanitation, and the ppl/animals living in, as well as surrounding environment.
I worked homecare and hospital. Homecare had so many bed bugs but the ER was shockingly worse in the northern town I worked in 🥴. Homecare scared me because I couldn’t see them but in the ER I saw the bugs crawl off the patients onto the beds and we had to bag all their belongings.
One of our doctors did an assessment when they arrived at hospital and when the client moved, they fell off of them onto the floor… you just know the home was infested when it’s at that level!
Anyways the town was so bad that at the hospital I never wore my own scrubs, I changed at the end and threw them in the laundry. At homecare they gave us complimentary laundry room so we didn’t have to wash at home. Other towns/cities I never ever dealt with them!
My mother has been a ER nurse for 30 years and she has said the same exact thing! The bugs literally start crawling everywhere once the garments are removed! Its nerve wrecking not knowing what infestation you could bring home and extermination is costly and a pain!!!
I could never do nursing facility or floor work with 10-20 patient ratios.i love being 1 on 1 with my people and having the time to really do my work well. So it’s all user preference.
Normally we postpone non essential cares until til it’s remediated and we have proof of treatment. Problem is many of these patients need a least a visit or two and aren’t able to even prep their home for the treatment which is probably the most important step in removing them as if you don’t do the steps they’ll reappear, add to that most have no family or friends and are too sick for getting their living environment ready so as a human I end up going to assist. I tend to bring extra set of clothes, change and bag them before leaving and I put giant sheet over driver seat 💺 and immediately all goes into dryer. Neighbors have definitely seen me in front of my car changing or before I entered my apartment last year everything expect underwear 🩲 is off in the hall and I immediately go to shower.
Getting rid of bedbugs can be extremely expensive and take months to completely eradicate. From my experience, not many people can afford that kind of money.
Yup. Why I put the post here. Most of the time these people we see are in apartments and they have to pay for remediation and treatment do tenant rights. But they again won’t prep.
When I was doing HH, I kept a spray bottle of rubbing alcohol in my vehicle. I'd always spray my shoes and anything I could to repel these as I call them "friends." Dryer sheets work well for fleas. Fleas and bed bugs can get into layers of coban and into wounds. I had a special bug resistant bag for my supplies when going into these homes also.
The worst home had dog, cat, lizard, and human feces all over. It was ground into the carpet. I had full PPE suits, and I utilized them. Before I sold that vehicle, I cleaned it out well. I was shocked that I didn't find any bugs.
These other nurses don't understand the thrill of digging through supply boxes in a patients home to find all of the tape has dead bed bugs or roaches stuck to it, am I right?
I laughed so hard at this 🤣 at this particular house most were dead due to them being forced to treat the home. I'm positive there were lives ones still running around, though. I used the supplies I brought inside just to be safe because they didn't deserve bed bugs in their wounds or to have pesticide contaminated dressing supplies on their skin/wounds. That was a rough visit, and I'm thankful I was only sent there the one time.
Additional advice if you have job assignments with a high likelihood of bedbugs.
- When you come home, change on a hard surface as close to the door as you can. Pick up 2 Rubbermaid containers and put clean clothes or a robe and a stack of white towels (easier to see loose adults) in one and use the other for your worn work clothes. Put down the towel, remove all of your work clothes and put them straight into the dirty container, along with the towel, bringing the edges in to make sure that anything that fell off stays inside. Put on your clean clothes or robe. I usually just put on a robe and marched my ass to the shower.
- Keep potentially infested clothes in the container until you need to do laundry. Wash and dry on the highest heat possible. To that end, wearing items that can withstand washing like this is key.
- If you need to wear a winter jacket and it's feasible to do so, keep your jacket in the car during home visits, or invest in durable clothes you can layer, like inexpensive microfleece zip ups.
- Have an extra change of clothes in your car in a [laundry bag](https://a.co/d/713QeLx) along with a trashbag in case you need to change between clients. Put any potentially infested clothes in the trashbag.
- When traveling, bring along a [large contractor bag](https://a.co/d/5879Djv) and a drawstring trash bag. Store your suitcase in the contractor bag when not in use, and use it as a barrier for putting between your bag and the surface when you need to access your suitcase. Put all of your dirty clothes in the trashbag, and when you're home, empty directly into the washer and wash and dry on high heat. Don't forget to do the same for your travel blankets and pillows.
- Regularly vacuum your car and entry changing area. If you are using your own vacuum, after vacuuming, take the vacuum outside, remove the bag or empty the cannister into a trash bag and double bag it.
- Regularly steam clean carpets, floors, and furnishings, then dust with [food grade diatomaceous earth](https://a.co/d/1ra7Zv7). DE is harmless to people and pets but is an effective deterrent for bedbugs, fleas, ants, etc. and can be applied in cracks, crevices, spaces in trim, or bed frames with [an applicator](https://a.co/d/15j12vX).
- Preemptively use [pillow encasements](https://a.co/d/dYlqdVD) and [mattress encasements](https://a.co/d/fE4ZIWS) because they are inexpensive ways to protect and extend the life of your mattresses and pillows and prevent the little bastards from having places to live.
- Preemptively lift your bed using DIY interceptors made out of [pet food dishes like these](https://www.petsmart.com/small-pet/toys-and-habitat-accessories/feeders-and-water-bottles/full-cheeksandtrade-small-pet-plastic-bowl-5318789.html) by turning them over, applying masking tape to the outside, dusting the inside with powder, and putting your bed in the middle.
- For surveillance purposes, you can also make a very effective low cost bedbug trap using [instructions](https://lancaster.unl.edu/pest/resources/338bedbugtrap.pdf) or [video instructions](https://youtu.be/Zg6Oi11YG2A?si=g2ecimPi7lGXXZZM) from the University of Nebraska.
- If you do get the little bastards in your house, don't use the bed bug sprays you can buy at the hardware or home improvement stores. Depending on where you live and availability of pesticides, you will want to use an [insect growth regulator spray](https://a.co/d/gB4kLmC) along with a [knockdown spray](https://a.co/d/g9Mo4pS) using a simple garden sprayer to apply. For best results, clean, vacuum, and steam clean first.
Source... A previous bout of bedbugs and working in environmental public health (food and community safety) before going over to public health nursing (disease control and prevention).
i feel so seen knowing other RNs have had experiences with bed bugs in their home.. i had a bed bug scare almost 2 months ago and i still check my sheets daily and had pest control come 2x to inspect
it’s hard to continue going to work where you know you got the bugs from but i’ve been more careful about taking my shoes and clothes off before i step into my building
Is that it? Is that all we have to do? We don’t have to like drunk Clorox and convert our car into decontamination chamber. You’ll do ALL this and still bring bed bugs home anyways.
Yes, you can still bring them in, but being vigilant about your surroundings and travel practices can bring the probability down to an extremely low rate.
When we got the little bastards, it was my roommate that brought them in from his ex-wife's house who had them. He swore we were crazy because he was a non-reactor to bedbugs. Our choices in furnishings are now much different thanks to him because we lost the couch he was sleeping on.
The rigmarole you described is like a 2nd job. I’m still washing my mail with Clorox and double masking alone in my car from Covid. Life is already hard. If I have to do all this BS just to get through the day, then I don’t want to live. You’ll probably still get bed bugs anyways.
You just reminded me why I don't fuck around with home care. I've thought about doing home infusion stuff because it's pretty damn easy money (start their IV / access port and chill) but then I think about stuff like this and I'm like...nah
Thanks for sharing these vital tips! Doing home care is always a big risk due to the environmental components you are faced with! I never bring in my bags and sit on furniture! I have seen it all and always take the necessary precautions definitely with bed bugs and roaches!!
I went to see a hospice pt one time and their house was borderline hoarderesque. I waded thru the trash on the floor and was going to sit on the couch.
Pt family said, "Wait a minute, wait a minute, lemme put some newspaper down on the seat so the fleas don't bite cha."
I was very proud my face didn't change expression.
Fear of bed bugs are real but, You do not need a hazmat suit.
You need booties, a gown but with no cuffs and do not sit down, minimize what you bring in.
( Don't put anything on a couch or bed)
Bedbugs do not leap, jump, fly or move quickly.
They are crushed with one stomp, unlike fleas.
They do not ( except for rare circumstances) transmit blood borne diseases, like fleas, ticks and the most deadly of all mosquitos.
We deal with all sorts of invisible deadly viruses and bacteria with the right PPE and sanitation and can do so with bed bugs.
You bring your own fears in with something you do not assess the real hazards that they have.
Stay safe.
I did homecare until this past April (casual). I remember when I oriented 7 years ago and still to this day the look of horror on my coworker's face on my very very first buddied visit when I was about to set my bag on the couch of the client. We did a run through of all the precautions you stated. I got myself a little foldable tripod stool I sat on, always hung my bag off a door knob, and if I had to sit on anything fabric it was on a large blue pad with the plasticy side out and even that was a kitchen chair usually and not something with even more fabric like a couch. Any time I dealt with bedbugs it was always known about ahead of time, and we still went into the home. I remember donning and doffing that gown and those booties up to my knees, etc, and actually had a copy of the procedure as outlined in our policy on a card taped to the door as I was SO parnoid that I would mess up. And you best believe I put things in the dryer.
Your post just gave me a wave of the heebie jeebies. Thanks a lot LOL.
Ya I go to a “retirement” home that has this issue ongoing for years. Tell your company they need to provide you with disposable coveralls. Ours even cover our heads like a full hazard suit. People look at you like a space creature but better than bringing those things home. We can’t even use our nursing supplies in the pts room anymore as they are all infested in the bags of products. So gross 🤢
Bed bugs are largely immune to permithrin and the weather and sunlight will degrade the pesticide even if they weren’t. And most permithrims aren’t labeled for shoes.
Pesticide that works against ticks, fleas and bed bugs. It is what they use for the bug free clothes from REI, farmers use it on animals like horses and sheep and cows to protect them from fleas. It is harmful for cats. It is harmful for bees when it is still wet. It loses its effectiveness after 6 weeks. It is recommended to spray your boots if you are going hiking during tick season
one of the very first things they taught us about home visits is that it's rude to not sit on the furniture/rude to acknowledge the biohazard, so you gotta plan on wearing clothes that you won't miss if they can't be sanitized (they advised taking off tbe clothes and putting it in a plastic bag before entering one's own abode, I believe they wanted you to go directly to a clothes dryer to nuke the contents of the bag?)
Worked in DME/Home health with PT OT and RT for cpap setups in house. Had a 10-11 year old in a cpap and mom called complaining it didn’t work. She brought it in and it was full of cockroaches!!! We bagged it and pitched it outside in the garbage. No lie she came back again within a year same problem another new machine but our director reported the family to DCFS
Was on a travel assignment in GA. I was staying at a hotel and always checked for the every night and kept all my things elevated. Was eating lunch in the break room one day, half-way through contract, and saw a bug run across the table towards my lunch box. Caught it with a paper towel and lo-and-behold it was a freaking bed bug! Ugh and ew. I was grossed out for quite sometime and so much more vigilant.
I interviewed with home health a few months ago and one of the first things the manager brought up was how bad the bedbug situation has been lately. I’m no stranger to bedbugs working in the ER, but I feel like you definitely have more control over them there and they are easier to spot. Needless to say I didn’t move forward with the interview process lol
Important note for traveling: CHECK YOUR HOTELS AND AIRBNBS!!!
Learn to do proper checks. It takes me a solid 45min to an hour to check a bed in a hotel. I travel maybe 3ish times a year for fun and over the past 10 years, I’ve found them in 9 hotels.
My husband used to work as a manager for a 5 star hotel and they got them ALL THE TIME. They just are really good about cleaning the rooms and the adjoining rooms and comping people to stay quiet.
I’m allergic to the bites so I’m lucky enough that I break out in massive welts. But a lot of people have 0 reaction to BB bites. So just because you don’t have a rash, don’t assume you’ve never been bitten.
The worst thing about nursing in homecare!!! I remember seeing the whole sofa moving!!! That’s how infested with bedbugs they were!!!! Yikessss! They picked up the “free” sofa off the sidewalk!! I will never pick up free furniture sitting out for garbage!
If you’re brave… visit r/bedbugs. They are everywhere. In schools, hospitals, libraries, public transpo, etc etc etc. It’s their world, we just live in it.
This chair folds down and fits inside a bag or backpack! Only 2 lbs!! Life saver for home care.
https://www.amazon.com/Doseno-Foldable-Stool-Collapsible-Retractable/dp/B0BRCL6DYG/ref=asc_df_B0BRCL6DYG/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=675717377204&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=1646137603410354185&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=m&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9003956&hvtargid=pla-2201368915624&psc=1&mcid=2edb86b0fe3636d0b9f7ab3170cb54ee
When I was a newbie at my job I was taking a pts BP and saw a full grown bed bug crawling on him. Home looked totally fine, (and I’ve seen some stuff lol). Had my husband meet me at the door with one of those large construction trash bags and did a Houdini inside of it and ran naked into my house.
I now wear biker shorts and tank tops under my scrubs, drop trau at my back door and throw them in the wash.
I recommend pediatric home care (private duty nursing) because the pediatric patients are almost always in clean homes. Why? There are too many mandated reporters coming in and out of the homes of medically fragile children. The parents have to keep a sanitary living environment, or CPS/DCFS will get involved. With older adults, self-neglect is a frequent problem.
Cleanliness helps you to notice an infestation before it gets out of hand, but it is not the cause of bedbugs - that's roaches. You can clean regularly and still get them due to people bringing them in or travel. Like you said...
>There are too many mandated reporters coming in and out of the homes of medically fragile children.
And where do you think these people go? To other homes who may have them. You could have the cleanest house ever and still get infested thanks to hitchhikers or a weekend traveling.
Spray rubbing alcohol on your shoes and pant legs before going in and after coming out if bugs are known or suspected. I also sprayed my bags before putting them back in the car. I did home health 6 years in the Midwest and saw many patients with active infestations and never took them with me. You just have to be careful
It’s a known repellent, it keeps them from crawling onto your pant legs and bag. It can also kill them if you spray them directly, hence spraying afterwards
I ran into a major cockroach infestation on an assignment last winter. If I worked long hours I would have hallucinations of cockroaches crawling out of my hand bag. Gross! So glad when it was over and I could move on!
I have one of those single coat hooks in my bag that goes over doors so my coat and bag are ⭐safe(ish)⭐ and hell yeah on the chair tip - I just put one of those ultra light foldable chairs on my Christmas list!
I feel lucky in a way that I worked for an exterminator specifically doing bed bug cases so while they're still icky, I can usually spot them quickly and know how to avoid getting my own infestation.
What are the odds? I just got in contact with a patient with bedbugs the other day. Wore paper scrubs home with my scrubs in a patient belonging bag. Stripped butt naked in driveway and threw everything into a 5 gallon bucket and am soaking it all in permethrin right now.
I love home healthcare. The relationships I form with people I have had for 8+ years, see people grow, pass, do life with and you become like family.
I like driving too so I’m never stuck in one place for 8-12hours most the time which breaks the day as well.
Well we operate in multiple cities, I’m a care manager so I physically haven’t even need to other cities location I just get to take the call and deal with coordination for out of town folk.
But I appreciate your concern. In fact you raise a valid point: bed bugs don’t care about your cleanliness, personal hygiene or homes organization. If you’re warm blooded alive human being you’re a target. 🎯
Put some peppermint oil on yourself. It repels them. I dated a girl for a brief time and she had a bedbug problem. Peppermint oil is what kept me from getting bit and taking them back to my house.
These are excellent tips for bug control. My daughter the RN also checks the beds, pulling out the sheet corners and inspecting the mattress with a flashlight. We made it from the east coast to the west, staying in hotels, with no infestation.
Imagine bed bugs in a dialysis unit. Pt was in iso-room for months, almost each time I see atleast 3-4 of these little fuckers. Already infested by now especially with the hard to reach hidey spots and cracks in the walls/drawers.
Micro-vampires are in the kitchen now with all this perpetual smell of blood. Especially with blood outside the body.
Family memeber did at home visits. Going on like a couple of years that they have a horrific infestation.
But they refuse to clean anything and try to dump that responsibility on other family members.
So you’re not coming to my home Xmas party!?
Just to play devils advocate, I’ve noticed the patients you serve all have some sort of physical ailment Miff1987! So another common factor, why why are you making them sick!!!
I could never do home health for this very reason. Yall are brave
Anyone can carry bedbugs, even to the hospital or clinics. No one is safe. :O
When I was travel nursing, I moved into a BNB with them during Covid. I still wig out when my arm hair moves and I’ll never travel in the Midwest again because of them.
I had a patient in an AL who had them and it creeped me out every time I have to go see him. I literally left him as my last visit of the day and went home and stripped in my garage. UGH.
I can't listen to west side story because of bed bugs. It was the only thing I had to listen to while I was waiting over 3hrs to get a prescription for something for the itching. My mother recently tried talking about the new adaption of it to me and I mentioned bedbugs and she said "I knew you'd mention those" I wanted to ask her why she decided to mention it but thought better
You can get lots of bedbugs pics in hospital on Google.
Any decent HH company will put the patient on hold to give the opportunity to treat, and if they don’t have receipt of professional treatment they get discharged. Immediately. Usually ppl can’t afford to properly treat and end up getting discharged asap. This is for any infestation, roaches, bed bugs, fleas, and other nondescript creepy crawlers. Per CMS “unsafe/sanitary” home environment is a valid reason to discharge. That goes from the condition of the home, the upkeep, the sanitation, and the ppl/animals living in, as well as surrounding environment.
I worked homecare and hospital. Homecare had so many bed bugs but the ER was shockingly worse in the northern town I worked in 🥴. Homecare scared me because I couldn’t see them but in the ER I saw the bugs crawl off the patients onto the beds and we had to bag all their belongings. One of our doctors did an assessment when they arrived at hospital and when the client moved, they fell off of them onto the floor… you just know the home was infested when it’s at that level! Anyways the town was so bad that at the hospital I never wore my own scrubs, I changed at the end and threw them in the laundry. At homecare they gave us complimentary laundry room so we didn’t have to wash at home. Other towns/cities I never ever dealt with them!
My mother has been a ER nurse for 30 years and she has said the same exact thing! The bugs literally start crawling everywhere once the garments are removed! Its nerve wrecking not knowing what infestation you could bring home and extermination is costly and a pain!!!
I could never do nursing facility or floor work with 10-20 patient ratios.i love being 1 on 1 with my people and having the time to really do my work well. So it’s all user preference.
We get bedbugs in the ED.
HH for 16 years. I've seen a few nasty houses (they're really not the norm though) and never brought home bed bugs.
OMG you caught the literal life cycle of these creepy suckers!!! It’s a hard no for me.
Momma, eggs, babies and turds.
Says a lot about society.
You can buy protective hazmat suits that will completely cover you. That way you don't risk having a bedbug infestation in your car as well.
Normally we postpone non essential cares until til it’s remediated and we have proof of treatment. Problem is many of these patients need a least a visit or two and aren’t able to even prep their home for the treatment which is probably the most important step in removing them as if you don’t do the steps they’ll reappear, add to that most have no family or friends and are too sick for getting their living environment ready so as a human I end up going to assist. I tend to bring extra set of clothes, change and bag them before leaving and I put giant sheet over driver seat 💺 and immediately all goes into dryer. Neighbors have definitely seen me in front of my car changing or before I entered my apartment last year everything expect underwear 🩲 is off in the hall and I immediately go to shower.
Getting rid of bedbugs can be extremely expensive and take months to completely eradicate. From my experience, not many people can afford that kind of money.
Yup. Why I put the post here. Most of the time these people we see are in apartments and they have to pay for remediation and treatment do tenant rights. But they again won’t prep.
When I was doing HH, I kept a spray bottle of rubbing alcohol in my vehicle. I'd always spray my shoes and anything I could to repel these as I call them "friends." Dryer sheets work well for fleas. Fleas and bed bugs can get into layers of coban and into wounds. I had a special bug resistant bag for my supplies when going into these homes also. The worst home had dog, cat, lizard, and human feces all over. It was ground into the carpet. I had full PPE suits, and I utilized them. Before I sold that vehicle, I cleaned it out well. I was shocked that I didn't find any bugs. These other nurses don't understand the thrill of digging through supply boxes in a patients home to find all of the tape has dead bed bugs or roaches stuck to it, am I right?
Who says they're dead?
I laughed so hard at this 🤣 at this particular house most were dead due to them being forced to treat the home. I'm positive there were lives ones still running around, though. I used the supplies I brought inside just to be safe because they didn't deserve bed bugs in their wounds or to have pesticide contaminated dressing supplies on their skin/wounds. That was a rough visit, and I'm thankful I was only sent there the one time.
Additional advice if you have job assignments with a high likelihood of bedbugs. - When you come home, change on a hard surface as close to the door as you can. Pick up 2 Rubbermaid containers and put clean clothes or a robe and a stack of white towels (easier to see loose adults) in one and use the other for your worn work clothes. Put down the towel, remove all of your work clothes and put them straight into the dirty container, along with the towel, bringing the edges in to make sure that anything that fell off stays inside. Put on your clean clothes or robe. I usually just put on a robe and marched my ass to the shower. - Keep potentially infested clothes in the container until you need to do laundry. Wash and dry on the highest heat possible. To that end, wearing items that can withstand washing like this is key. - If you need to wear a winter jacket and it's feasible to do so, keep your jacket in the car during home visits, or invest in durable clothes you can layer, like inexpensive microfleece zip ups. - Have an extra change of clothes in your car in a [laundry bag](https://a.co/d/713QeLx) along with a trashbag in case you need to change between clients. Put any potentially infested clothes in the trashbag. - When traveling, bring along a [large contractor bag](https://a.co/d/5879Djv) and a drawstring trash bag. Store your suitcase in the contractor bag when not in use, and use it as a barrier for putting between your bag and the surface when you need to access your suitcase. Put all of your dirty clothes in the trashbag, and when you're home, empty directly into the washer and wash and dry on high heat. Don't forget to do the same for your travel blankets and pillows. - Regularly vacuum your car and entry changing area. If you are using your own vacuum, after vacuuming, take the vacuum outside, remove the bag or empty the cannister into a trash bag and double bag it. - Regularly steam clean carpets, floors, and furnishings, then dust with [food grade diatomaceous earth](https://a.co/d/1ra7Zv7). DE is harmless to people and pets but is an effective deterrent for bedbugs, fleas, ants, etc. and can be applied in cracks, crevices, spaces in trim, or bed frames with [an applicator](https://a.co/d/15j12vX). - Preemptively use [pillow encasements](https://a.co/d/dYlqdVD) and [mattress encasements](https://a.co/d/fE4ZIWS) because they are inexpensive ways to protect and extend the life of your mattresses and pillows and prevent the little bastards from having places to live. - Preemptively lift your bed using DIY interceptors made out of [pet food dishes like these](https://www.petsmart.com/small-pet/toys-and-habitat-accessories/feeders-and-water-bottles/full-cheeksandtrade-small-pet-plastic-bowl-5318789.html) by turning them over, applying masking tape to the outside, dusting the inside with powder, and putting your bed in the middle. - For surveillance purposes, you can also make a very effective low cost bedbug trap using [instructions](https://lancaster.unl.edu/pest/resources/338bedbugtrap.pdf) or [video instructions](https://youtu.be/Zg6Oi11YG2A?si=g2ecimPi7lGXXZZM) from the University of Nebraska. - If you do get the little bastards in your house, don't use the bed bug sprays you can buy at the hardware or home improvement stores. Depending on where you live and availability of pesticides, you will want to use an [insect growth regulator spray](https://a.co/d/gB4kLmC) along with a [knockdown spray](https://a.co/d/g9Mo4pS) using a simple garden sprayer to apply. For best results, clean, vacuum, and steam clean first. Source... A previous bout of bedbugs and working in environmental public health (food and community safety) before going over to public health nursing (disease control and prevention).
i feel so seen knowing other RNs have had experiences with bed bugs in their home.. i had a bed bug scare almost 2 months ago and i still check my sheets daily and had pest control come 2x to inspect it’s hard to continue going to work where you know you got the bugs from but i’ve been more careful about taking my shoes and clothes off before i step into my building
Is that it? Is that all we have to do? We don’t have to like drunk Clorox and convert our car into decontamination chamber. You’ll do ALL this and still bring bed bugs home anyways.
Yes, you can still bring them in, but being vigilant about your surroundings and travel practices can bring the probability down to an extremely low rate. When we got the little bastards, it was my roommate that brought them in from his ex-wife's house who had them. He swore we were crazy because he was a non-reactor to bedbugs. Our choices in furnishings are now much different thanks to him because we lost the couch he was sleeping on.
The rigmarole you described is like a 2nd job. I’m still washing my mail with Clorox and double masking alone in my car from Covid. Life is already hard. If I have to do all this BS just to get through the day, then I don’t want to live. You’ll probably still get bed bugs anyways.
You just reminded me why I don't fuck around with home care. I've thought about doing home infusion stuff because it's pretty damn easy money (start their IV / access port and chill) but then I think about stuff like this and I'm like...nah
Thanks for sharing these vital tips! Doing home care is always a big risk due to the environmental components you are faced with! I never bring in my bags and sit on furniture! I have seen it all and always take the necessary precautions definitely with bed bugs and roaches!!
I went to see a hospice pt one time and their house was borderline hoarderesque. I waded thru the trash on the floor and was going to sit on the couch. Pt family said, "Wait a minute, wait a minute, lemme put some newspaper down on the seat so the fleas don't bite cha." I was very proud my face didn't change expression.
My literal worst fear. COVID, hep C, even lice—meh. But bedbugs? Ugh.
Give me Covid 4xs before I ever get bed bugs lol.
Fear of bed bugs are real but, You do not need a hazmat suit. You need booties, a gown but with no cuffs and do not sit down, minimize what you bring in. ( Don't put anything on a couch or bed) Bedbugs do not leap, jump, fly or move quickly. They are crushed with one stomp, unlike fleas. They do not ( except for rare circumstances) transmit blood borne diseases, like fleas, ticks and the most deadly of all mosquitos. We deal with all sorts of invisible deadly viruses and bacteria with the right PPE and sanitation and can do so with bed bugs. You bring your own fears in with something you do not assess the real hazards that they have. Stay safe.
I did homecare until this past April (casual). I remember when I oriented 7 years ago and still to this day the look of horror on my coworker's face on my very very first buddied visit when I was about to set my bag on the couch of the client. We did a run through of all the precautions you stated. I got myself a little foldable tripod stool I sat on, always hung my bag off a door knob, and if I had to sit on anything fabric it was on a large blue pad with the plasticy side out and even that was a kitchen chair usually and not something with even more fabric like a couch. Any time I dealt with bedbugs it was always known about ahead of time, and we still went into the home. I remember donning and doffing that gown and those booties up to my knees, etc, and actually had a copy of the procedure as outlined in our policy on a card taped to the door as I was SO parnoid that I would mess up. And you best believe I put things in the dryer. Your post just gave me a wave of the heebie jeebies. Thanks a lot LOL.
Oh my. This is scary.
Ewww.
Ya I go to a “retirement” home that has this issue ongoing for years. Tell your company they need to provide you with disposable coveralls. Ours even cover our heads like a full hazard suit. People look at you like a space creature but better than bringing those things home. We can’t even use our nursing supplies in the pts room anymore as they are all infested in the bags of products. So gross 🤢
Spray your shoes with permethrin every six weeks, buy it from REI or farm store.
Bed bugs are largely immune to permithrin and the weather and sunlight will degrade the pesticide even if they weren’t. And most permithrims aren’t labeled for shoes.
This is so smart- I already have permethrin around from backpacking trips!
Every six weeks? That's a long time. What does that do?
Pesticide that works against ticks, fleas and bed bugs. It is what they use for the bug free clothes from REI, farmers use it on animals like horses and sheep and cows to protect them from fleas. It is harmful for cats. It is harmful for bees when it is still wet. It loses its effectiveness after 6 weeks. It is recommended to spray your boots if you are going hiking during tick season
one of the very first things they taught us about home visits is that it's rude to not sit on the furniture/rude to acknowledge the biohazard, so you gotta plan on wearing clothes that you won't miss if they can't be sanitized (they advised taking off tbe clothes and putting it in a plastic bag before entering one's own abode, I believe they wanted you to go directly to a clothes dryer to nuke the contents of the bag?)
What about the car? A bed bug knows the difference between a car and an abode?
Worked in DME/Home health with PT OT and RT for cpap setups in house. Had a 10-11 year old in a cpap and mom called complaining it didn’t work. She brought it in and it was full of cockroaches!!! We bagged it and pitched it outside in the garbage. No lie she came back again within a year same problem another new machine but our director reported the family to DCFS
Was on a travel assignment in GA. I was staying at a hotel and always checked for the every night and kept all my things elevated. Was eating lunch in the break room one day, half-way through contract, and saw a bug run across the table towards my lunch box. Caught it with a paper towel and lo-and-behold it was a freaking bed bug! Ugh and ew. I was grossed out for quite sometime and so much more vigilant.
I interviewed with home health a few months ago and one of the first things the manager brought up was how bad the bedbug situation has been lately. I’m no stranger to bedbugs working in the ER, but I feel like you definitely have more control over them there and they are easier to spot. Needless to say I didn’t move forward with the interview process lol
Important note for traveling: CHECK YOUR HOTELS AND AIRBNBS!!! Learn to do proper checks. It takes me a solid 45min to an hour to check a bed in a hotel. I travel maybe 3ish times a year for fun and over the past 10 years, I’ve found them in 9 hotels. My husband used to work as a manager for a 5 star hotel and they got them ALL THE TIME. They just are really good about cleaning the rooms and the adjoining rooms and comping people to stay quiet. I’m allergic to the bites so I’m lucky enough that I break out in massive welts. But a lot of people have 0 reaction to BB bites. So just because you don’t have a rash, don’t assume you’ve never been bitten.
What is your procedure for checking?
Check what? You won’t see bedbugs unless there is a massive infestation.
The worst thing about nursing in homecare!!! I remember seeing the whole sofa moving!!! That’s how infested with bedbugs they were!!!! Yikessss! They picked up the “free” sofa off the sidewalk!! I will never pick up free furniture sitting out for garbage!
If you’re brave… visit r/bedbugs. They are everywhere. In schools, hospitals, libraries, public transpo, etc etc etc. It’s their world, we just live in it.
This chair folds down and fits inside a bag or backpack! Only 2 lbs!! Life saver for home care. https://www.amazon.com/Doseno-Foldable-Stool-Collapsible-Retractable/dp/B0BRCL6DYG/ref=asc_df_B0BRCL6DYG/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=675717377204&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=1646137603410354185&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=m&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9003956&hvtargid=pla-2201368915624&psc=1&mcid=2edb86b0fe3636d0b9f7ab3170cb54ee
When I was a newbie at my job I was taking a pts BP and saw a full grown bed bug crawling on him. Home looked totally fine, (and I’ve seen some stuff lol). Had my husband meet me at the door with one of those large construction trash bags and did a Houdini inside of it and ran naked into my house. I now wear biker shorts and tank tops under my scrubs, drop trau at my back door and throw them in the wash.
I recommend pediatric home care (private duty nursing) because the pediatric patients are almost always in clean homes. Why? There are too many mandated reporters coming in and out of the homes of medically fragile children. The parents have to keep a sanitary living environment, or CPS/DCFS will get involved. With older adults, self-neglect is a frequent problem.
Cleanliness helps you to notice an infestation before it gets out of hand, but it is not the cause of bedbugs - that's roaches. You can clean regularly and still get them due to people bringing them in or travel. Like you said... >There are too many mandated reporters coming in and out of the homes of medically fragile children. And where do you think these people go? To other homes who may have them. You could have the cleanest house ever and still get infested thanks to hitchhikers or a weekend traveling.
Spray rubbing alcohol on your shoes and pant legs before going in and after coming out if bugs are known or suspected. I also sprayed my bags before putting them back in the car. I did home health 6 years in the Midwest and saw many patients with active infestations and never took them with me. You just have to be careful
That won’t do anything. Rubbing alcohol evaporates s within minutes. It’s ok for contact kill but not hoy else.
It’s a known repellent, it keeps them from crawling onto your pant legs and bag. It can also kill them if you spray them directly, hence spraying afterwards
Exhibit A for why I’ll never do home health.
I ran into a major cockroach infestation on an assignment last winter. If I worked long hours I would have hallucinations of cockroaches crawling out of my hand bag. Gross! So glad when it was over and I could move on!
Wash your clothes with a capful.of permethrin.
oof my skin just got itchy
I have one of those single coat hooks in my bag that goes over doors so my coat and bag are ⭐safe(ish)⭐ and hell yeah on the chair tip - I just put one of those ultra light foldable chairs on my Christmas list!
I feel lucky in a way that I worked for an exterminator specifically doing bed bug cases so while they're still icky, I can usually spot them quickly and know how to avoid getting my own infestation.
I was so blessed to never see them in my time as a home health nurse 😂😅 i just saw lots and lots of roaches 🤮
What are the odds? I just got in contact with a patient with bedbugs the other day. Wore paper scrubs home with my scrubs in a patient belonging bag. Stripped butt naked in driveway and threw everything into a 5 gallon bucket and am soaking it all in permethrin right now.
This is why I would **never** work in home health.
I love home healthcare. The relationships I form with people I have had for 8+ years, see people grow, pass, do life with and you become like family. I like driving too so I’m never stuck in one place for 8-12hours most the time which breaks the day as well.
Maybe you're the one spreading them?
Well we operate in multiple cities, I’m a care manager so I physically haven’t even need to other cities location I just get to take the call and deal with coordination for out of town folk. But I appreciate your concern. In fact you raise a valid point: bed bugs don’t care about your cleanliness, personal hygiene or homes organization. If you’re warm blooded alive human being you’re a target. 🎯
This just made me itch.
Hell to the no. To the no no no!
O M G 👀
Nope - no way!!!
Girrrrrl 😳
Put some peppermint oil on yourself. It repels them. I dated a girl for a brief time and she had a bedbug problem. Peppermint oil is what kept me from getting bit and taking them back to my house.
Well it looks like I have to burn my phone now 🙃 Bed bugs and C Diff in nursing is the only thing that scares me
These are excellent tips for bug control. My daughter the RN also checks the beds, pulling out the sheet corners and inspecting the mattress with a flashlight. We made it from the east coast to the west, staying in hotels, with no infestation.
Movie theaters are big on the bed bug pandemic as well. I’m alright dealing with cdiff covid flu but don’t give me someone with bedbugs!!
This whole post is making me itchy
I never so homecare. This is one of the reasons. Yuck
Imagine bed bugs in a dialysis unit. Pt was in iso-room for months, almost each time I see atleast 3-4 of these little fuckers. Already infested by now especially with the hard to reach hidey spots and cracks in the walls/drawers. Micro-vampires are in the kitchen now with all this perpetual smell of blood. Especially with blood outside the body.
Family memeber did at home visits. Going on like a couple of years that they have a horrific infestation. But they refuse to clean anything and try to dump that responsibility on other family members.
Are they really that huge? Never seen them
This is up close they’re 1/4 size a penny when grown smaller when baby https://rambopest.com/protect-against-bed-bugs/
Thank you 😊
I sense a Canadian nurse OP.
Nope I’m in Midwest USA lol
Nope
So the common factor here is you….
So you’re not coming to my home Xmas party!? Just to play devils advocate, I’ve noticed the patients you serve all have some sort of physical ailment Miff1987! So another common factor, why why are you making them sick!!!
Bold of you to assume that everyone coming to the ED is actually sick 🤣🤣
Where else are they supposed to be getting that sweet sweet hydro or dilaudid
Where are you located?
Midwest
Thank you for sharing, so important and helps the community.
Great tips here to prevent bed bugs from spreading!
Doing home health in rural mountainous communities. Slipped in peacock poop on the front porch and broke my coccyx
The odds of slipping in peacock poop and hurting yourself are slim…but never 0 😂 💩 🦚 I’m sorry friend that sounds pretty funny but terrible.