temp regulation

[kaibigan]

hello there! am a newbie in this group, i would like to ask if you clothe your babies when they are under radiant warmer or inside an isolette or giraffe??? am new to our hospital and new in this country too. i wonder if it is all the same in other institutions or hospital in the US that NICU babies under warmers with their probes attached to their skin are all covered with baby dresses or clothes? ...pls. help me find policy on this...thanks very mych.

:Melody: :Melody: :Melody: :Melody: :Melody: :Melody: :Melody:

"Whatever you wish for your future; whatever you hope for aim high; your dreams are the wings of your spirit, as long as you can dream, you can fly."

[Gompers, BSN, RN]

While there are always nurses who are going to dress and swaddle babies when they're on radiant warmers on in isolettes, our basic standard is this:

If a baby is using a temp probe, they shouldn't be dressed or covered in any way, regardless if they're in an isolette or warmer.

If a baby is weaning out of the isolette and is just on air temp, then it's time to dress and swaddle the baby so we can see just how much heat he or she needs. If we dress or swaddle big babies on warmers, we usually turn off the warmer itself and just use it as an open bed until they're stable enough to go to a crib.

[sparkyRN]

Same for us.

[BittyBabyGrower, MSN, RN]

I have to say we are very good with NTE in our unit. No kids on ISC get dressed. We start out in their NTE, sometimes we will leave the probe on, but to air control, to make sure we aren't baking or freezing them. Then we wean appropriately from there.