baby to the nursery please

[jennifers]

Do your parents send their newborns to the nursery for the entire night? Is this allowed by your facility? We understand if the mom had a c/s and has no one to stay and help her. but what about those intact svd's on their second night?

What about those boarding with their infnat on bili lights? Do they stay to board to spend time with the infant and come night want it to go to the nursery?

what is your nursery nurse to patient ratio?

[krenee]

The nursery I work in, we keep about half of our census overnight per the mother's request. Some of them will send the baby to the nursery between breastfeedings so they can sleep in between feedings.

The hospital i work at is still in the culture where L&D, postpartum

, and nursery are very separate entities.

Yeah, that. They tried to institute mother-baby, but the night nurses were resistant. A lot of the nurses encourage the moms to put the baby in the nsy because they're tired and won't get a break when they get home . . . the other problem I see is that moms don't FEED their babies at night, if the baby sleeps, and the mom sleeps, the babies can go too long without feeding - so I like my babies in the nursery sometimes to make sure the child eats! These kids will go 6+ hrs without feeding sometimes. Also the moms sleep with the babies in the bed, not a fan of that either.

[cherokeesummer]

Yes. I'd say probably half send their babies to the nursery on any given night. It is rare to have less than 5-10 babies overnight. Generally our charge nurse cares for them or we take turns. Also our admitting nursery nurse will if she is not getting new babies in. We can't staff to keep a nurse in the nursery so we just have to rotate.

I don't mind giving moms a break so I'm ok with it sometimes but what does bother me are the ones who never want their baby in the room and they are not resting, they are up on the phone all night long. Or the ones who send the baby to the nursery and the baby is screaming but they refuse a paci or a feed, only wanting breastfeeding (which I think is fine) but I think that when the baby is screaming it needs to be comforted and if you don't want to hold it, comfort it, feed it or pacify it, then it bothers me. I will hold the baby as long as I can but I think that breastfeeding on demand is important and I will take a baby back that just ate if I can't console it any other way. I just explain to mom that baby is having a hard time being consoled even after holding/rocking/etc. and may need to nurse or do skin to skin. Again I'm all for giving mom a break but I can't bear to hear/see the baby so upset and moms not wanting to take part in the care.

[cherokeesummer]

Don't know if the nurse was trying to manipulate you into keeping your child with you or was badly educated or what, but there is a third option. It's called "out on demand."

We do this with lots of breastfed babies. The moms need sleep, and they're afraid they won't wake up in time to feed their babies (who may also need to be awakened after the four-hour maximum time). We'll either arrange to go into the room to make sure the feeding isn't missed, or we'll keep the baby in the nursery and take her back when it's time to feed.

I work with each mom to find whatever will work best for her and her child. If there is some kind of confusion or conflict, we'll talk it through, so that we have a good plan that takes care of everyone.

This bears repeating--Moms are our patients, too.

Ditto, we do this too - ood is very important b/c like you said, in the begining babies may go a long time without waking to eat and we need to make sure its being done. I've had moms really not want to have baby to nursery but they were so to the point of exhaustion and crying that I suggested just a three hour break, that way they can rest and they still don't feel bad b/c its not all night. OOD is a good option.

[cherokeesummer]

I said and I quote "sometimes their lazy" - which I hate that I wrote because I used the wrong "their" oops correction *"they're".

But to the point... sometimes they ARE lazy! I didn't say everyone or all the time! And I'd like to see anyone who's worked with people say that people aren't ever lazy. There are some that do send their baby to the nursery so they can watch tv, and eat, and go out for "fresh air" every hour, and talk on their phone about how cute their baby is - when they've had it in their room for 15 minutes. Then the second they get a visitor they're pounding the call light wanting the baby... then the visitor leaves.. they pound the call light and say they need help putting the baby in the crib and it needs to go back to the nursery.... sometimes we're not the hospital, we're the Hilton.

Now are there people who are exhausted? YES! Need a couple hours of uninterrupted sleep? YES! Need to recuperate because they just had a repeat c/s after trying to VBAC for 15 hours? YES! Plenty of legit reasons for a baby to go to a nursery for a couple hours... but are there lazy people? YES!

And to be quite honest - I'm lazy sometimes too. Because I'm a "People" and like I said "people are people, and sometimes *they're lazy."

Have a good one!

We must work in the same place LOL! Just kidding but it sounds so familiar!

[cherokeesummer]

Thanks for clarifying.

I have to admit, with my second son, he spent the nights in the nursery unless it was feeding time. He was with me the rest of the time. With my first I insisted he stay with me and by the time I was released I was a mess. I had terrible PPD and felt like I'd been hit by a train but was afraid to send him to the nursery because I didn't want to be one of "those" moms.. I struggled with breast feeding and didn't sleep most of the time I was there. It was not the beautiful experience I expected it to be. Expecting new moms to be super mom right out of the gate, imho, is ridiculous.

With #2, the nurse said to me on day 1, (I had c-sections with both) that I needed my rest as much as he did and that it would be best for him and me if I sent him to the nursery at night. I didn't argue, by that point I didn't really care if I was viewed as a "lazy" mom for trying to get some recovery time in for myself too. I think I even let them keep him for the whole night my last night there allowing them to feed him formula (gasp) that night. Do I feel bad? Not even a little. I had a one year old at home and major surgery to recover from.

Lazy mom, raising her hand.

Nope I don't call that lazy at all. That is normal. We can't blanket it all and say any mom who sends her baby to the nursery is lazy, its a specific type of person I think of, the ones who don't want to particpate in care at all, i.e. feeding, changing, etc. Now if we could staff for a person in the nursery it would be even better.

I offer to my moms to keep the baby if they even so much as think/blink or act like they could use it. If they ask, I say sure and ask how they want the baby fed, etc. If I need to do a lab or anything I will ask, do you want me to keep the baby for a couple hours so you can rest? Etc. This way I'm not pushing but they don't feel bad for asking b/c I've presented them with it.

Sometimes you just gotta rest!

[raynienatasha]

hi im a nursery staff nurse, yeah i feel the same dude...Not to condemn them though..

[raynienatasha]

I work on a very large post-partum floor, and yes - mom's will send their babies for the entire night sometimes [usually a couple each night]. We always have a RN assigned to Nursery and Transition. Usually there is an ECN RN too, depending on if we have boarders and how many. We have 46 rooms [single occupency] but our census runs at about an average of 66/day - but our floor handles - and so we count - Moms, Babies, GYNs and Readmits. We don't make the patients take the baby, if they ask for the baby to go to the nursery we take them to the nursery... they are encouraged through all RN teachings and Lactation [if it applies] teachings that the baby does best with mom in the room, but people are people and sometimes their lazy - but that's just my opinion....

hi im a nursery staff nurse, yeah i feel the same dude...Not to condemn them though..

[clemoi]

The nursery I work in, we keep about half of our census overnight per the mother's request. Some of them will send the baby to the nursery between breastfeedings so they can sleep in between feedings.

The hospital i work at is still in the culture where L&D, postpartum

, and nursery are very separate entities.

We encourage rooming in but about 90% of the parents don't do it. Some have sick babies, but the majority just want to sleep before they go home and don't get sleep anymore. It's not a big deal to me.

I don't see why nurses think its an issue of being lazy or mothers not wanting to be with their babies, so i appreciate your non-judgmental attitude. I've had three babies and am a very involved mother. I nursed all of them and was always happy when the nurses brought them to me at night. However, with my first baby I had a very scary experience. I was alone and feeding the baby and fell asleep. When I woke up, he was no longer laying on me, he was next to me on the bed, what if i had rolled over or pushed him off the bed? The thought still terrifies me. After that, if I didn't feel capable of being awake and alert enough to keep them safe I sent them to the nursery.

Women are exhausted after labor and overwhelmed with their swiftly changing lives and bodies. Not to mention the pain medication they are given. I say if a mom says she is too tired to room in, get the baby out of there for safety's sake!

[gemininurse71]

Because of budget cuts, our nursery recently closed and I think it's a shame. Although I do believe some people would take advantage of the service (baby in nursery more than mom's room, or multiple visits so mom can smoke), I also think it can be invaluable to some people. A four hour nap is all it might take for a woman (after hours to days of labor and pushing, then possibly C/S) to feel like a new woman and better able to cope with the constant BF sessions or crying jags. Now, the only babies that go to the nursery are administrative/CPS holds and C/S admits (for 1 hour).

[JustMyThoughts]

Keep in mind, when this tired and recovering mother goes home she will get a bill for two patients. She will not get a discount for any unused services. An increase in job duties may equate to an increase in job security. We are women, lets support and help each others, as most of us will have a chance to be on the receiving end.

[klone, MSN, RN]

We encourage the moms to room in with their babies, but are okay when/if the mom asks if we can take the baby to the nursery. Sometimes it's until the next feeding, sometimes it's all night.

On any given night, we might have anywhere from 2-8 babies in the nursery. The nursery is a closed off room that you walk through the nurse's station to access. If there are only a few babies and the nurse doesn't want to be sequestered in the nursery by herself, she'll bring "her" baby out to the nurse's station to hang out with the nurses. There's always at least one nurse hanging out who can babysit. Unless it's a "boarder" baby (in which case one of the newborn admit nurses takes care of the baby), the baby is the responsibility of the nurse assigned to that couplet.

While we all encourage rooming in, it's really not a big deal for us to watch a patient's baby if they want to get a few unbroken hours of sleep.

As a lactation consultant, I've found that SLEEP is often something that's overlooked when breastfeeding isn't going well. A sleep-deprived mother is going to be more tense, have difficulty with milk letdown, and will just have a harder time figuring out breastfeeding. Sometimes the best thing for a breastfeeding mom is to let her sleep, uninterrupted, for 3-4 hours.