If I were working for a federal agency that told me I couldn't work there because my spouse was mentally unstable then I would probably divorce him/her.

If spouse was that sick, the real priority would be presumably preserving health benefits by continuing to work, though.

Anonymous wrote:I would just shower and change my clothes before coming home. Never give up your work without having a backup plan for health insurance and sufficient income.

I’m immunosuppressed, and this is what DH does.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you are a nurse, go work for the hmo's, become a case worker, get into admin

I’m confused about why you think working for a different health group means no patient contact?

And as an aside, most nurses (or rather many nurses) don’t go into the profession wanting to do admin. They actually WANT to do client care. If they are approaching their career as they should, they’re not really at that much increased risk for infection.

I'm an RN at a hospital working with a very wide range of patients and am exposed to all sorts of nasty germs on a daily basis. throughout my career, I have worked with many immunocompromised nurses. Depending on what the issue is, some have to not take certain patient assignments but none have had to quit their jobs completely. When I worked in the ED, I knew a couple of nurses who ended up moving to a different floor when they were going through some health issues because you are more likely to get exposed to diseases before you realize you need to take enhanced precautions. But they certainly didn't have to give up their career.

It sounds like the issue is the person is more in the "works in the ED, refuses to work in any other department" category. That's just a selfish move if it puts their spouse at risk.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you are a nurse, go work for the hmo's, become a case worker, get into admin

I’m confused about why you think working for a different health group means no patient contact?

And as an aside, most nurses (or rather many nurses) don’t go into the profession wanting to do admin. They actually WANT to do client care. If they are approaching their career as they should, they’re not really at that much increased risk for infection.

I’m a Case Manager. All my work is done on the phone. I know that’s not always the case. I have never once been sick from work and I have been a nurse for 23 years ( last 9 have been Case Management).
When I worked OR, we didn’t operate on people with cold, flu etc. Only if it was like and death and we wear masks.

You should be wearing masks during surgery, not for your protection, but for the client’s protection.

And not operating on someone with a cold or flu has nothing to Do with infection control TO YOU, and everything to do with potential for respiratory complications, usually up to the discretion of the anesthesiologist.

I’m guessing there are many reasons you’re not in client care any more.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What if it’s a high profile political career and your spouse has a mental illness that may be aggravated by your national or global success?

Well, Abe, we are all grateful that you put career before spouse, but most people don’t have the Union to save.

A presidential candidate is a perfect example, even though you make light of it. The public trust is very fragile - could you imagine being criticized for your health? and campaigning alone could be harmful to the mental health or marriage with someone who has a mental illness you may not see (eg PTSD) that wouldn’t survive the pressure of being a first family. There are true security risks to consider. And career stagnation could happen.

This is DC. It’s not some unheard of possibility.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm not really sure that you would have to give up your career. I am immunosuppressed and am an elementary school teacher. I do everything I can to prevent getting sick (constant handwashing, not touching doorknobs or students' pencils, clothes come off right when I get home and I get in the shower etc) but if my spouse was the one who was a teacher I wouldn't expect that he give up his career because of me. But I would expect he would do the best he could to avoid bringing germs home. What is your exact situation?

+1. Both of the scenarios OP presented seem workable to me.

OP here. They aren't the exact situation, but it's a situation where there's not really a workable solution, at least not one that spouse is willing to try.

You'll have to give us more to go on than that OP, because I really can't imagine a scenario where it wouldn't be workable.

OP, quit being cryptic. Are you bored, lonely? Need attention?

Can’t you just be a grown up and discuss the actual situation instead of hypothetical nonsense.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you are a nurse, go work for the hmo's, become a case worker, get into admin

I’m confused about why you think working for a different health group means no patient contact?

And as an aside, most nurses (or rather many nurses) don’t go into the profession wanting to do admin. They actually WANT to do client care. If they are approaching their career as they should, they’re not really at that much increased risk for infection.

I’m a Case Manager. All my work is done on the phone. I know that’s not always the case. I have never once been sick from work and I have been a nurse for 23 years ( last 9 have been Case Management).
When I worked OR, we didn’t operate on people with cold, flu etc. Only if it was like and death and we wear masks.

Anonymous wrote:What if it’s a high profile political career and your spouse has a mental illness that may be aggravated by your national or global success?

Well, Abe, we are all grateful that you put career before spouse, but most people don’t have the Union to save.

What if it’s a high profile political career and your spouse has a mental illness that may be aggravated by your national or global success?

As someone with multiple advanced degrees in my field, I'm honestly not sure what I would do. I can't imagine giving up the job I have worked very hard to achieve. Not to say I wouldn't consider my spouse, of course, I just think I am quite worthless if I can no longer work in my field.

I would just shower and change my clothes before coming home. Never give up your work without having a backup plan for health insurance and sufficient income.

Anonymous wrote:If you are a nurse, go work for the hmo's, become a case worker, get into admin

I’m confused about why you think working for a different health group means no patient contact?

And as an aside, most nurses (or rather many nurses) don’t go into the profession wanting to do admin. They actually WANT to do client care. If they are approaching their career as they should, they’re not really at that much increased risk for infection.

If you are a nurse, go work for the hmo's, become a case worker, get into admin