Exclusive rooming in

allnurses Guide · Sep 13, 2003

Well, I work in a small rural hospital and we don't have the staff for a nursery. We have a small nursery where we take the babies for baths, weights, circumcisions, etc. But the babies all room in with the moms.

So, we don't have any other option.

steph

Mimi2RN, ASN, RN · Sep 13, 2003

We do 350+ deliveries a month, have LDR's and no well baby nursery. All the babes room in, unless they need to be in the Level 2 nursery. Some of the babies end up at the nurses station when mom is exhausted, during the night.

We have been doing this for years, so it's nothing new to the staff.

SmilingBluEyes · Sep 13, 2003

LDRP

level 2 nursery ONLY

no well nursery...no staffing for it.

couplet care--private rooms

70-75 del/mo.

BETSRN · Sep 13, 2003

How do you present this to the mothers? We are all for this concept, but I am interested as to how you might present this in advance. What do you do with babies of mothers who have had a brand new C/S? Thanks.

SmilingBluEyes · Sep 13, 2003

I bend over backward to help with babies and care when possible. Especially with csection/sick moms. It can be juggling act cause, like I said, no staffing exclusively for well babies exists. We often will juggle each other's babies if moms are unable to care for them. If a mom is freshly recovering from a csection or is sick, I will help her get the baby out of the crib and on to latch, or put the baby in bed with her for diapering, etc, but early-on, our moms know they can expect to assume care for their baby with my guidance and help.

We tell the mothers/fathers from the very point of admission that their baby will room in with them 24/7 unless baby or mom are sick. They sign a paper--- (indicating understanding)--- which is basically an intro and welcome to our unit---outlining use of phones, visitation policies, cellular phone and smoking bans, etc.....AND our rooming-in policy. 99% of the time, parents are very positive about this and WANT their baby in the room with them, anyhow. If you build up the expectation that babies are to room in with moms early-on, emphasizing that it has been shown to enhance bonding, breastfeeding and confidence in caring for their newborn, you usually will find there is no objection to this policy. THEY WANT THIS!

allnurses Guide · Sep 14, 2003

I had my first child 20 years ago and they took him away the first night so I could sleep the entire night. I was young and didn't know any better but I hated it. My next two roomed in. The last child, 2 years ago, roomed in. I had a cesarean and wouldn't have had it any other way. The nurses did help me get my son into bed (thanks Deb for what you said about helping :-) . . I nursed him and he slept next to me. The only time he left my room was when he was taken for a bath and weight and when I finally got to take a shower on the third day.

Funny, I never realized it but we don't talk to our moms about rooming in . . .. it just happens.

steph

NurseyNursey · Sep 14, 2003

Originally posted by stevielynn
Well, I work in a small rural hospital and we don't have the staff for a nursery. We have a small nursery where we take the babies for baths, weights, circumcisions, etc. But the babies all room in with the moms.

So, we don't have any other option.

steph

Same with us. Unless the baby is having problems, it is with the mother. We encourage someone to stay over with the new mom especially if she is nervous.

We do have a few nursery techs that work 11-7 when we are really busy. There are only 2 nurses scheduled for each shift.

renerian, BSN, RN · Sep 14, 2003

I am weird but I liked having the baby cared for by a nurse the first night. I had not slept in two days and I was whipped.

renerian

Mimi2RN, ASN, RN · Sep 14, 2003

You are not weird. That's why we end up with babies at the nurses station....too many exhausted moms, and dads, if they stay to help, sometimes sleep all night. No help at all. When we have only two-bed rooms left, and they mom has to have a room-mate, they aren't allowed to stay all night.

gypsyatheart · Sep 14, 2003

Originally posted by BETSRN
How do you present this to the mothers? We are all for this concept, but I am interested as to how you might present this in advance. What do you do with babies of mothers who have had a brand new C/S? Thanks.

I work in a LDRP(200-250 del/mo) setting, we have always had "rooming in/couplet care". There is really nothing to "present" to the parents. The expectation is there that this is THEIR child and, like another poster stated, when discussing the course of their stay we emphasize the boding, teaching, etc. Ultimately,it is the nurse who has the the "couplet" that would be responsible for taking care of the baby, should we need to, but we simply don't have the staff for just "watching" well babies. Besides the majority of our parents WANT this.

We go out of our way, as well, to help sick moms, or post c/s moms, of course.

Also, this concept is already presented to our moms from their prenatal visits, introduction to our "Family Birthing Center", so it's not a new concept to them anyway.:)

Geeg · Sep 14, 2003

I am not a postpartum RN, but this seems to me to be one more case of the patients receiving less care, while the hospital saves $$ by not staffing a nursery, or at least having a nurse dedicated to helping with the rooming in.