selecting what to read

[MetteUtheim]

( sorry for any languageerrors)

to my surprize I got an internship in a NICU and am starting in march:) problem is i have all my work experience from nursing homes and psychiatry units and neonatal and premature nursing was not at all a priority in my education, so I´m feeling a little overwhealmed by all the new knowledge i have to aquire before i start. it seemed like there is a very good " trainingprogramme" for newly employed nurses but during the interview they also made it very clear that if I do not work hard to get updated on the curriculum it wouldn´t be the place for me to work, and of course i also don´t want to kill any babies:D

i have a couple more books in norwegian that I´ve started reading, but I bought the "handbook of neonatal intensive care" ( merenstein & gardner) that seems more to the point. I´m not used to a lot of the english nursing- terminology and it is a thick book so i have to make priorities and would appreciated if you could give me recommendations as to which chapters are more useful when just starting in the field:

the cahtpers are:

(part 2 support of the neonate) : prenantal environment, perinatan transport, delivery room care, initial nursery care, heat balance, physiologic monitoring, diagnostic imaging, pharmacology in neonatal care, drug withdrawal, acid - base homeostasis and oxygenation, pain and pain relief, impact on development

part 3 ( metabolic and nutritional care of the neonate) fluid and electrolyte management, glucose homeostasis, enteral nutrition, total parenteral nutrition, skin and skin care, breast feeding the neonate with special needs

unit 4( infection and hematologic diseases of the neonate) newborn hematology, jaundice, infection in the neonate.

unit 5: ( common systemic diseases in the neonate ) respiratory diseases, cardiovascular diseases , neonate nephrology, neurologic disorders, genetic disorders, malformations and inborn errors of metabolism, neonatal surgery

part 6: families in crisis, grief and perinatal loss, follow- up of the nicu infant, ethics, values and care in nicu

realisticly i won´t get through more than 6-7 chapters so it would be very helpful if you could narrow it down for me:)

thank you!

[AnonRNC]

A terrific guide is S.T.A.B.L.E. - search for it with the periods between each letter. It's written in more simple English than the book you bought.

Without knowing what kind of unit you'll be working on, it's hard to prioritize, but if I have to: delivery room resuscitation, temperature regulation, glucose, respiratory distress & oxygen, jaundice, feeding.

You might also like NICU "Survival Card". You can google it.

[MetteUtheim]

thank you:) the unit only has a very short presentation in english

http://www.oslo-universitetssykehus.no/omoss/english/organisational-units/Sider/department-of-neonatal-intensive-care.aspx

its the "rikshospitalet" unit that i\ll be working at

i was shown around last week and from what i gathered they have "everything", from prematures at gestation age down to 23 weeks to fullterm and relatively healthy babies with jaundice for lightherapy. there were also babies with heart and GI- defects and ( eh alcohol- syndrome ) and some in withdrawal. they said that some of the babies are not diagnosed as they may have combinations of anomalies that can`t be related to any specific syndrome.

i would not be put to work with the most premature babies or those needing respirator-treatment for quite a long time and start off with the relatively stable ones, but i think I`m expected to have some knowledge of the most common procedures for the more advanced treatments , the whole unit is in the same "place", it was sort of a big room with a few areas glassed in and an "island" with computers in the middle

it is a great opportunity for me, its in a hospital which has a lot of research and the neonatal unit is the most advanced in the country so i don`t want to mess up. I was very honest about my lack of experience in the field and they told be that hiring me in spite of that means that they expect a very steep learning curve. the first 6 weeks are training but for me it will take a lot of homework too.

[AnonRNC]

This sounds like a great opportunity for you. Given the patients you said you'd be working with, my earlier recommendations remain the same. Best wishes!