Babysitting a down-syndrome infant post-heart surgery - tips?

Specialties NICU

Published

Hello all,

I'm a new grad and I've been working at a step-down ICU. I'm really enjoying it so far and I feel like I'm learning a lot and being challenged every day! It's 12h shifts, 3 days a week so I find myself with a lot of down time. I spend my off days reviewing and studying, and I've also taken some babysitting gigs on the side.

Someone reached out to me to see if I could help care for their 5 m/o with down syndrome. I work with adults and my OB/Peds knowledge is pretty rusty. I have 2 years of experience working at a special needs home caring for patients with DS, autism, cerebral palsy, and other developmental/physical disabilities. But those patients were mostly fully grown so my experience with DS is probably not even applicable (the youngest I've cared for probably being 8 y/o). I've babysat infants before but none that had significant medical histories. I don't want to treat this like a regular babysitting job - feed, dress, cuddle, etc. I want to really utilize my nursing background to help this family and be aware of concerning assessments while I'm with this child. He just came home from having heart surgery this past December.

Just wondering if the OB/NICU community has any advice? Things I should expect or watch for? Things I should read up on?

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While I admire your good intentions this is a really bad, bad idea. If you want to use your nursing skills with this baby ask the parents if he qualifies for home health and then go through an agency to care for him. If he does not qualify do not take this job. You would seriously be putting your license on the line and for what? A babysitting gig? If anything happened to him in while in your care you would be liable as a nurse not a babysitter. That is not a risk worth taking.

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Specializes in NICU, PICU, PACU.

Absolutely agree with the above.

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Okay, thank you very much! I think I'll take your advice - it did make me pretty uncomfortable when they asked but I'm kind of a people pleaser and it's hard for me to say no. I understand this isn't my specialty and I'll let them know looking into home health would be better :)

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Specializes in Pediatric Critical Care.

Agree. Sounds like this is a family that specifically wants a nurse as their babysitter. That puts you in a bad spot. I've heard of many families, usually of NICU preemies, who continue to want a nurse presence in the home because they are nervous about caring for their babies that previously required critical care monitoring. They also like to buy lots of in-home monitoring devices that are commercially available for families whose children don't actually require or qualify for medical equipment (like apnea monitors) or home health care.

If they just wanted you as a regular person, that would be one thing (the baby probably requires little specialized care that would actually need to be done during babysitting time, and any babysitter should know BLS). But I don't think that's what this is - I think they want you to be their babies nurse, and that's not fair to you.

If they really want a nurse in their home without qualifying for home health, they can hire a private duty nurse through an agency.

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