Nurses allowing infants to cry excessively with no attempts to soothe.

Specialties NICU

Published

Specializes in NICU.

We have a small handful of nurses in our unit that let their babies cry without attempts to soothe. We have private rooms and often they shut the infants door and sit at the desk where they pretend they can't hear the baby crying. They also draw labs without giving a passy or sweet ease. I cannot stand this. I am constantly having to attempt to soothe their baby or tell them their babies are crying. It isn't fair to the kids. I am thinking of making a poster that explains cortisol release and how to soothe a crying baby. I haven't been to my manager because I don't feel she will address the issue. One of the nurses I speak of is a veteran that has been there for 30 years. I don't want to get her in trouble but it is a problem. Other parents even complain and want to know why that baby has been crying so long.

We are a small level 2 nursery. I've only been here a year. This is my first NICU experience as I worked adult ICU for many years before. Is letting babies cry common practice in other NICUs or are these nurses just lazy? I am not talking neuro/drug babies.

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Specializes in NICU, Infection Control.

I would start w/the manager. Gather your references and info before you speak to her. Document incidents: names, dates, times. Our patients are human beings first, and as such, deserve to be comforted. Human infants require human contact in order develop normally. Even if they are only in the hospital a short time, it is traumatizing to be w/o their mothers.

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Specializes in NICU.

That's very strange and, no, not common practice (or at least, not appropriate). I think my first step would be to talk to the nurses themselves - not confronting them, but in a very innocuous, "Oh, did you know that your baby is crying?" sort of way after you've walked close to the closed door.

-If they say they didn't realize (even if the entire unit can hear it) and get up and do something about it, you've given them a graceful out.

-If they say they didn't realize and don't do anything, that's something concrete you can note and possibly take to management.

-If they give you some reason why they're not acting, follow up accordingly. (E.g. they say, "Oh, he'll settle on his own"; have a listen again in a few minutes and point it out to them if baby is still crying.)

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Specializes in NICU, PICU, PACU.

I'd say, hey Junior is crying again, want me to go get him or can you?

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Specializes in Pediatric Critical Care.

Based on your post, Im assuming that its not because the nurse is too busy charting or anything, right?

Do you have a unit educator? I actually really like the idea of trying to do some education on cortisol release, and if you have an educator, maybe they could help you facilitate that. If not, I'd approach your manager or a lead charge nurse from that angle - an educational opportunity for improvement. If that doesnt work and they dont seem to care, then Id try bringing up how it looks bad to the other parents. Whatever angle motivates them :)

Good for you for wanting to take some initative to improve the care in your unit. Good luck!

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Specializes in hospice.

Sounds like they believe in Gary Ezzo-type ideas and should not be allowed to work with infants. I'd be livid and unable to be polite in any way if I witnessed what you describe.

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I have always been told to never leave a baby to cry. Of course you get babies that cry but you must eliminate potential causes. If they are due for a feed then that's one thing. You cant help that, as it takes a few minutes to get your syringes and warm milk up. I usually give them their dummy to calm them while I prepare the feed.

If the babies cry is continuous then to me something is not right. It could be a dirty nappy, trapped wind, constipation or they could be in pain.

All babies can cry quite a bit but again its about going through potential causes. You cant just sit there and act oblivious. Babies cant talk so crying is their way of saying "Excuse me Nurse but I need your attention.

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Specializes in ED- 5 years, NICU - 1 years.

The whole letting them cry thing makes me crazy! Maybe it's because I'm newer so hearing the babies cry bothers me more but there are several older coworkers that are so ROUGH with their babies. Their just puuuull that duoderm off their poor little faces, no paci, no sugar, seriously? Grrrrr……but I'm the new gal so what am I going to do! Oh and very little nesting, attempt at developmental positioning. :madface:

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Specializes in NICU.
The whole letting them cry thing makes me crazy! Maybe it's because I'm newer so hearing the babies cry bothers me more but there are several older coworkers that are so ROUGH with their babies. Their just puuuull that duoderm off their poor little faces, no paci, no sugar, seriously? Grrrrr……but I'm the new gal so what am I going to do! Oh and very little nesting, attempt at developmental positioning. :madface:

Well, a baby's going to cry if you're tugging on his face but it's not a particularly painful procedure, so I wouldn't say sucrose would be appropriate in this case. They should certainly be using adhesive remover or at least just water to soften up the duoderm, though. And a pacifier afterwards is just the nice thing to do.

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Specializes in ED- 5 years, NICU - 1 years.

I wrote that wrong, I didn't mean to say give sugar for removing duoderm just in general for painful procedures.:D

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Specializes in NICU.

Gotcha. It seems to be either/or, doesn't it? Some nurses just don't give sucrose for anything, and some abuse the stuff. My kingdom for a happy medium.

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Specializes in Family Practice.

It is one thing if the nurse is busy with another baby but just blatantly letting them cry is mean. I work in a unit that has separate pods with one nurse on the other side with her babies. Most of the time the other nurse would come over and soothe the baby until the other nurse is finishing up her cares with her other baby. This is why I have issues with private rooms because unless your list is adjoining the room you have to constantly run in the room to soothe them. If they have a computer in the room where I can chart I would just stay in there and work with both of my kids. I personally do not like to let my babies like that. It usually takes a few minutes of swaddling and giving them a little hug and the pacifier and they are okay.

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