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| Advertisement Sponsored Links | | | | No. 11 | 
Aug 27, 2009, 10:23 AM
 Re: Post Traumatic Stress Disorder in NICU Parents
I can tell you that it isn't just those who have experienced NICU. My mum suffers PTSD from when I was in MICU for a month -- I was over thirty at the time. The rest of my family weren't very nice to her about it. Essentially, once I was discharged, they didn't see what her problem was as I was on my way to recovery. She was in a really bad state for a couple of years.
For the most part she is better now.
 | | No. 12 |
Aug 27, 2009, 04:31 PM
Re: Post Traumatic Stress Disorder in NICU Parents Originally Posted by DolceVita  I can tell you that it isn't just those who have experienced NICU. My mum suffers PTSD from when I was in MICU for a month -- I was over thirty at the time. The rest of my family weren't very nice to her about it. Essentially, once I was discharged, they didn't see what her problem was as I was on my way to recovery. She was in a really bad state for a couple of years.
For the most part she is better now.
DolceVita - THANK YOU for sharing your & your mom's personal experience regarding the MICU.
Having gone through what I'm convinced was undiagnosed PTSD (~13 years ago, after having to triage "out" a live-for-the-moment actively burning victim of a 2 vehicle crash so I could treat the other driver), I can only imagine what it must be like for the parent or loved one of a person in the ICU.
As somebody starting in the ICU, this subject is near & dear to my heart. I wonder what we as ICU caregivers can do to help minimize the likelihood of PTSD developing in the family members of our patients. I'm not sure if any sort of up-front family member education/exposure to the lights/bells/alarms present in the ICU would be of any help.
| | No. 13 |
Aug 27, 2009, 05:53 PM
Updated
Aug 27, 2009 at 05:59 PM by jlnewnurse
Re: Post Traumatic Stress Disorder in NICU Parents Originally Posted by CrufflerJJ I saw this article on the NY Times website this morning. Apparently ( and sadly), parents of infants in the NICU may suffer from acute stress & post-traumatic stress disorders. I wonder if parents/spouses of patients in a SICU/ MICU (& other ICUs) might also see similar PTSD reactions. See: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/25/he...agewanted=1&em For Parents on NICU, Trauma May Last
By LAURIE TARKAN
Published: August 24, 2009
Kim Roscoe’s son, Jaxon, was born three months early, weighing two and a half pounds. But for nine days he did exceedingly well in the neonatal intensive care unit, and Ms. Roscoe felt little different from the other new mothers.
Her nightmare started on Day 10.
“I had left him late the night before, in my arms, tiny but perfect,” said Ms. Roscoe, now 30, of Monterey, Calif. But when she returned to the NICU the next day, Jaxon was in respiratory and kidney failure, and his body had swollen beyond recognition.
“He was hooked up to ventilators, his skin was turning black, the alarms kept dinging over and over,” Ms. Roscoe recalled.
Jaxon is 16 months old now, and home with his family. But he was in the NICU for 186 days, and his days and weeks were punctuated by near-death episodes.
During the six-month ordeal, Ms. Roscoe had constant nightmares. She slept with her shoes on, expecting a call from the hospital at any moment. She became angry at the world, and so jumpy she thought a supermarket scanner was one of Jaxon’s monitors going off. Her husband, Scott, immersed himself in projects, took care of their daughter, Logan, now 6, and held things together emotionally.
About three months after her son’s birth, Ms. Roscoe asked to see a psychiatrist. She was given a diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder, or P.T.S.D. — a mental illness more often associated with surviving war, car accidents and assaults, but now being recognized in parents of premature infants in prolonged intensive care. A new study from Stanford University School of Medicine, published in the journal Psychosomatics, followed 18 such parents, both men and women. After four months, three had diagnoses of P.T.S.D. and seven were considered at high risk for the disorder.
Wow......Finally I found a place where there are actually others talking about this. I was in therapy for 2-3 years after my daughter was born 5 1/2 weeks early and the whole experience was so hard to go through. You leave the hospital with no baby and go home with an emptiness that sadens and overwhelms you to no end. I can't think of anything more heartbreaking than the emotions/torment of parents in the NICU. The psychologist never ever put it together and only because I joined this website recently did I see this thread. My psychologist did say that I was experiencing PTSD, but it never occurred to her that it was all brought on by the stress of my first baby being born early. Needless to say, the NICU nurses were wonderful!! I never ever wanted to leave. The triage nurse was wonderful. So many times I was scared and sad and they were always there and so encouraging. And yes, I know it sounds corny, but this is why I wanted to go into nursing too. Thank you out there to all the NICU nurses and Mother Baby Nurses. You are amazing!! 
I think that there should be additional support for parents of NICU babies whether it be counseling or education covered by insurance. I also think that there should be specialized education for NICU nurses so that they can assess NICU parents and follow up care for the family as a whole. I know it sounds idealisitic, but it just makes so much sense..
JLnewnurse
| | No. 14 |
Aug 28, 2009, 01:02 AM
Re: Post Traumatic Stress Disorder in NICU Parents
I can agree. We came home without my son. I cried and cried and held him not sleeping for days not wanting to leave the hospital. I went upstairs to check on my wife and got some pollen on me sniffing and carrying some rust colored lilies to the car. I saw red/orange on my face and arm in the elevator mirror and panicked thinking the dark brown red pollen was blood and I had pulled his IV out, ran into the nicu....and got labeled the "bumble bee" (well they smelled so good)! I was a complete mess and had a hard time driving, stopping at lights knowing he wasn't coming home with us. I spent every day and night 'till staff told me to get lost only to get home, shower and go to work. Major sleep deprivation. I don't remember a lot of that time at all.
Once he came home, I did the same thing...held him and rocked him sleeping maybe 3 hours a day before going back to work. It eventually burned me out into reality. I still get a feeling of wanting to hold him. I only wish he knew how precious he is at 9 (he seems oblivious and is already growing apart from me). :yldhdbng:
| | No. 15 |
Aug 28, 2009, 01:18 AM
Re: Post Traumatic Stress Disorder in NICU Parents
I was halfway through nursing school when my 3 year old daughter fell out a two story window on to concrete right in front of me. Her skull was shattered in eight different places. I flew with her on LifeFlight to Children's Hospital in San Diego. While in PICU she stopped breathing and had to be intubated, again right in front of me. Medically induced coma, endless neuro tests, ct scans, MRI's, you name it and it was done to her. She made a full recovery and is fine now, nearly two years out. But I know that I will never be the same. I had nightmares for months, always her falling and me being unable to move. I felt guilty for not being able to catch her. If I conjure that image now, I get a sick feeling in my gut, it still hits me like a ton of bricks. PTSD? yeah, probably...
| | No. 17 |
Aug 28, 2009, 01:31 PM
Re: Post Traumatic Stress Disorder in NICU Parents
How can people be treated for this? (PTSD).
How long can it take for a person to have a resolution of their symptoms?
| | No. 18 |
Aug 29, 2009, 03:28 AM
 Re: Post Traumatic Stress Disorder in NICU Parents
I am so glad this study was done! I am the mother of a preemie as well. My daughter was born 4 weeks early via emergency c-section. It was the most traumatic thing I have ever went through. Not only was I a ICU nurse at the time, but I worked in the same hospital that I delivered her at. I had a really hard time going back to work and had horriable memories of what happened. After my c-section, I could not see or hold my daughter (I had an epidural), I could not enjoy the "joy" that comes with having a baby. I was hormonal. I had to see my daughter with an IV in her scalp, vent, NG tube, bili lights, etc. She didn't get her newborn pictures taken because she was in too much distress, her brothers couldn't visit her, and all those other things that make having a baby so special. I was so scared. I had never seen a baby breath 90 times a minute. I was in a huge post partum room and could see and hear other parents with their newborns. I heard their families visiting and rejoicing in their little miracle, while I was alone. The NICU nurses "assumed" I knew what was going on and I was "OK" because I was an ICU nurse-but I was far from it. Maybe too much knowledge can be a bad thing sometimes??
When my daughter was finally able to come home, I held her constantly!! I never let her go or let anyone hold her. She even slept with me (and still does). It was really unhealthy now that I look back. I wish I had more support and understanding on what was going on.
| | No. 19 |
Aug 29, 2009, 07:00 PM
Re: Post Traumatic Stress Disorder in NICU Parents Originally Posted by CrufflerJJ DolceVita -
THANK YOU for sharing your & your mom's personal experience regarding the MICU.
Having gone through what I'm convinced was undiagnosed PTSD (~13 years ago, after having to triage "out" a live-for-the-moment actively burning victim of a 2 vehicle crash so I could treat the other driver), I can only imagine what it must be like for the parent or loved one of a person in the ICU.
As somebody starting in the ICU, this subject is near & dear to my heart. I wonder what we as ICU caregivers can do to help minimize the likelihood of PTSD developing in the family members of our patients. I'm not sure if any sort of up-front family member education/exposure to the lights/bells/alarms present in the ICU would be of any help.
Funny you mention the alarms. My mum can't watch ANY medical show real of fiction that has monitors beeping or alarms going off. She used to love stuff like ER etc and now she switches them off. She had nearly 4 weeks of listening to my alarms, IV pumps and monitors beep.
This would be an interesting conversation to have with a shrink or psychologist who specializes in PTSD.
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