When is the busiest time in NICU?

NICURN29 · Nov 24, 2013

It absolutely varies. There is no consistency in the NICU. A "quiet" shift could turn into a crazy one in minutes. And the time of year that is busy varies from hospital to hospital. I don't think there is anyway to answer this question, unfortunately. Our census can go from 12 babies to 24 babies in just a few days time.

katierobin23 · Nov 25, 2013

Very much agree with the precious post. There is no way to know when is going to be busiest during a shift. As far as unit-wise, that varies too. A month ago we had 67 babies and had a hard time staffing, now we have 36 and are downsizing every shift. So you just never know. Part of being a NICU nurse is knowing how to roll with the punches, and this is no exception :)

NicuGal, MSN, RN · Nov 26, 2013

We are usually "quiet" now but we are at capacity! There are times of low and highs, we track it for staffing purpose. Never fails that the highest census time is in July...just in time for the green as green can get residents and fellows!

milkglass · Dec 11, 2013

I agree with the previous posts overall about a nicu unit, it's very much an ebb and flow like the ocean. You can have nights of low census and then get 7 admissions in one shift. You can have a baby that's fine on NCPAP and turns deathly sick by the end of your 12.

As far as the busiest time within a shift, for us it is by far 7-11pm on a bath night. We do our fluid changes (sterile and non-sterile), baths, weights, linen changes all in that four hour period. Along with your regular assessments and meds of course. It can be very frustrating when you're in step down with 4 patients and two parents need taught how to bath, and this baby needs this, and that baby needs to eat. Is anyone else's unit like this?

prmenrs, RN · Dec 11, 2013

I have always thought late summer-fall are busiest (those Christmas cuddles!). If you have a sudden surge, and the other hosps in the area are too--think back 8 or 9 months. Was there a play-off game? A power outage?

I also think change of shift is definitely more hectic.

NICURN29 · Dec 11, 2013

We do baths every three to four days, so it's rare to have all your patients have baths the same days. We also do baths on all shifts, according to the schedules of the families. If they are not coming in for the bath, they are done on night shift, but otherwise, they can be done at any time. We change lines around 1700ish, which is when our TPN arrives, and we do weigh and change linens on nights. This kind of schedule means all that stuff is spread out nicely.

katierobin23 · Dec 13, 2013

We do baths at night, unless the family is there earlier and wants to help (and as long as the day shift nurse is able/willing to do it). I personally do my weights and baths around the midnight round (2300-0100 ish) after the lines are finished (1800-2000ish) and I've got my bearings for the night. I don't like to bathe the first round because I feel like it makes me rush a little and I like to do a really thorough assessment when I first get there :) is there a particular reason your unit has you do the baths in that window of time? Just curious

ilovenicu16 · Jan 29, 2014

It varies! We usually average a census in the 30s-40. One time we went down to 23, which is VERY low, and I came back 2 days later and we were up by 15 babies! Some winters we are busy, sometimes we are not. You just have to go with the flow :)