by Mofe'ny

So what all do you have on bed that is set up for an admission? If you are called to go to a high risk delivery do you open supplies prior to the baby being in the NICU? In our unit it is up to the RN who is responsible for checking the emergency equipment and code cart. But some will set up a bed including having 2 of each size ET tubes from 2.0 to 4.0, BP cuffs from size 1 - 4, blood culture bottles, and syringes on the back of the bed. Well, if this isn't removed prior to a baby being put in the bed, it is considered contaminated/ or 'belonging to that patient'! My feeling is that we ALWAYS know if we are going back to a micropreemie vs. term baby and you should be able to at least estimate an approximate weight. (Shouldn't need a size 2.0 ET tube for a term baby)
So, what goes on your bed? By the way, we have a very small unit--- any of the things that I mentioned should be stocked within a 15 foot distance from ANY of our usual admission beds.

One of everything in every size! Size 1,2,3,4,5, BP cuffs, 2.0, 2.5, 3.0 ETT. 500 of D10 and NSS. Aline soulution, tubing, half dozen of each size syringe, IV catheters, hep locks, arm boards. UV line kit, LP tray, sterile gowns. Ya know, I could go on and on! You get the idea. But I don't open anything.
I figure if everything is there, you won't need it! Like it there is a 24 weeker on deck I'll fire up the humidified isolette and Tada! Not on my shift!

When we set up an admisson area we have the following:
A vent
Sx (2 set ups in case we need them)
Accessories such as leads, ISC, PO probe, all the things for the a septic w/u

We have an intubation box in every room, we have carts that are stocked with what we will need. We usually have trays for lines at the bedside. We only open them if we know it is a little kid or a known kid with defects that will need a line. All our kids go on D10 with Ca so that is hooked up and ready to roll and if we know it is a kid that needs a line a bag of 1/2NS 1:1 with Heparin at the bed too.

We have special beds with scales for less than 28 weeks. It has a Neopuff, plastic bag, a chemical warmer, all the intubation stuff plus meds(we give the first survanta in the del room), chest tube stuff....we take these to the room and the baby remains on the bed until they are stable or we need it, but we have three. On nights when we are getting ready to have an admissin everyone is wonderful about setting up the bed. I can go to get a baby and less than 10 minutes later bring it back and the girls have pulled it all together for the person that is admitting.

On ours, we put HR leads, oximeter, skin temp probe and BP cable. Also BP cuffs in different sizes and diapers. We make a bedside set up of alcohol wipes, betadine wipes, gauze, and syringes of various sizes. We also put needles and orange "med added" labels. We don't get IV stuff out until we know what we are getting. At that point we will get art line cable and transducer if need be. Micropreemies usually get D5 drips while older babies get D10. If we DO know what we are getting, we may make up IVF beforehand. UAC/UVC trays are in a small cart, which we park next to the bedside. We have intubation trays that we make up with different sized ETT's, tape, etc. Those we keep on top of our code cart. We will get an intubation tray if we need it. Babies are usually come to us intubated from the delivery room. They usually get their first dose of surf up there too.

FYI--- we surf any baby 30 weeks and under. We used to do it based how the baby acts, now we just surf automatically under 30 weeks. What do y'all do?

We have an "admit" basket" that has all the items generally used for any typical admit with all the different sized BP cuffs and such. Our NICU is level 3 and the OB/level 2 are across town.