palesarah

palesarah

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About palesarah

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  1. Maine NICU jobs?

    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...
  2. Tips for a neat bed?

    double post, sorry
  3. Tips for a neat bed?

    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 ...
  4. Thanks for asking because I couldn't figure it out, either, but figured I must just be tired and brain dead too and didn't want to ask!
  5. Halloween in the NICU

    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...
  6. My Poor Hands have been Washed Raw

    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...
  7. Strengths and weaknesses

    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...
  8. Family visits

    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 ...
  9. 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...
  10. Getting sick when your a NICU nurse?

    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...
  11. Communication with Parents

    :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...
  12. Need some ideas RE: external NICU appearance

    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 ...
  13. Is an LNA the same as an LPN???

    I'm not the OP but we have LNAs in NH. They have license numbers, continuing education and active practice requirements.
  14. shift question

    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...
  15. 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...