Which nurse assignment would be inappropriate for the charge nurse to give to a new admit with shingles?

• A. A nurse caring for nephritis, irritable bowel syndrome, and appendectomy.
• B. A new nurse just out of orientation caring for RSV, asthma, and anorexia nervosa.
• C. A nurse caring for spina bifida, Hirschsprung's Disease, and irritable bowel syndrome.
• D. A pregnant nurse caring for clients with cystic fibrosis, myelomeningocele, and rheumatoid arthritis.

Answer: (D)

Protecting a pregnant staff member from varicella-zoster infection is the key idea here. A patient with shingles carries the varicella-zoster virus and can spread it to someone who isn’t immune. Pregnant nurses are kept away from care of patients with active varicella or shingles unless their immunity status is confirmed. So assigning the shingles patient to a pregnant nurse would be inappropriate. The other nursing assignments involve nonpregnant staff or patients with conditions that aren’t contagious to a pregnant caregiver, making them appropriate in this scenario.