palesarah replied to tarabrooke77's topic in Maine
a little late to the party, but... MMC's is a 51-bed, single room model with the exception of the "transitional nursery." The NICU consists of 3 pods- 2 with 10 private rooms each, one with 8 private rooms plus the 3-bed transitional nursery. All b...
Funny how something so simple has so many solutions. What we typically do: one blanket to completely cover the isolette mattress like a sheet, edges folded under. Second blanket, slightly smaller, to place baby on. We use cloth diapers to roll up ...
The Build-a-Bear outfits are perfect for those 3-5 pounders! Last year one of the babies' parents bought a Superman outfit, complete with built-in muscles, it was adorable. Another baby got all dressed up as a Patriot's cheerleader for one of the g...
palesarah replied to SuesquatchRN's topic in General Nursing
I don't know about lotions that are compatible with latex gloves (or even why your hospital still has latex gloves at all!) But I've gotten half the nurses on mu unit hooked on Goldbond Ultimate Healing lotion. I have extremely sensitive skin and i...
I work in a 24-bed Level 3 with a separate 11-bed Level 2. We do pretty much everything short of organ transplants and ECMO, but cardiac surgeries (besides PDA ligations) go elsewhere in the hospital to recover. We're moving to a 50-bed, single roo...
palesarah replied to cherokeesummer's topic in NICU
I've been working on nipping the "family rumor" mill in the bud. If a family primarily makes contact on night shift, I tell the dayshift so as part of report: mom and dad live an hour away, both are back at work, they call in the in the morning and ...
I don't know what the job situation is in your area. In some places, staright day shift positions are available in all units- in others, they're not. If it comes down to it, you may have to take a position on a floor or in a hospital that's not you...
palesarah replied to cherokeesummer's topic in NICU
When it's a case of "maybe I have a cold, maybe it's allergies, my nose is a little stuffy but not runny if I take Dayquil" kind of thing, most people on my unit will just work through it. Mask on at all times in the unit, gloves & gown for pati...
:yeahthat: We expect parents to call or visit daily. If there are extenuating circumstances- parents live far away or don't have a phone- special arrangements are made. But we see or hear from the majority of our parents more than once a day. If t...
palesarah replied to twinkletoes53's topic in NICU
the entrance to our NICU isn't anything special. Only decorations I'm aware of are the green, pink and blue baby footprints (painted with some kind of stamp) that lead to NICU, L&D and postpartum/newborn. I don't even know which color leads to ...
Maybe, just maybe, if I stick it out another 25 years, I might get to permanent day shift. There are nurses in my NICU who have been there 20+ years and still have to pick up occasional night shifts. The few who are actually permanent days have been...
I was under the impression after my last communication with my DON that I will at least have a designated resource nurse for awhile, and they specifically want me to start back on days (I'm a rotator) to get back into the groove. I don't think anyon...