2 different questions for NICU nurses

NeoNurseTX, RN · Mar 17, 2009

1. There are taller nurses in the NICU. Isolettes have the ability to raise or be lowered.

2. Every baby is different.

NFB2008 · Mar 18, 2009

I am also 5'7" as well, and I always raise the isolettes to the highest position. The worst thing is when you have a baby in a crib and you have to do multple labs on them. I always have to bend over for those, and my back hurts after that.

prmenrs, RN · Mar 18, 2009

If you really want back pain, help some moms w/ breast feeding. OUCH!!!

NFB2008 · Mar 19, 2009

If you really want back pain, help some moms w/ breast feeding. OUCH!!!

I bet! We have lactation consultants so we utilize them a lot. Breastfeeding really isn't my area of expertise.

BoopRN · Mar 19, 2009

I'm 5'9" and I don't have a problem with the isolettes. The cribs and bassinets make me ache though!

twinkletoes53 · Mar 19, 2009

I am 5'1". The Incubators we have can be raised or lowered. I do have trouble reaching the IV poles to hang my fluids. Our NICU has several "short person footstools" (my term), and I keep one handy at my bedside. They come in useful especially if I have a baby on a reflux wedge in a cfib. Don't you just LOVE those? :no:

The added height gives me some leveerage in safely removing the baby from the wedge for care.

I work with a fantastic nurse who is 4'9".

I also work with great nurses who are 5'7" or taller. Working under warmers kills them, because their heads are so close to the top of the radiant warmer.

HealthShepherd · Mar 19, 2009

The incubators can be raised high enough (or low enough) for anybody's comfort, I believe... the trouble I find is when a baby is under phototherapy and the bed can't be raised because of the light.

I refuse to do heelsticks on a baby in a cot unless it's just a drop for the accucheck. Besides being hard on the back by being too low, the walls of the cot force you to angle your wrists down, rather than holding your wrists horizontally at the foot level. This angle makes the pumping and the blood collection awkward. What I do is swaddle the baby and put him on a padding of blankets on the counter. Another option, if you have the kind of cot where the basket moves horizontally on top of the base structure, is to push the basket to the far side and put the baby down beside it. In that case, a chair for the nurse is a good idea to prevent stressing your back.

Lovelymo79 · Mar 19, 2009

Wow..all great information. Thanks!!

BTW, my cousin was induced on Monday afternoon and the baby was born on Tuesday, St. Patty's day, in the afternoon, weighin 4lbs, 6 ozs.

For a 34 weeker in my non-nursing mind...that's great! He looks AWESOME!! Now..we're just waiting for his lungs to be be developed a little bit more. So, he'll be in the hospital for another 2 weeks or so.

But, all is well with him and Mommy (who by the way is in an accelerated BSN program..and we suspect with the stress and all..that's what caused her water to break).

dawnebeth · Mar 19, 2009

Congrats on your new cousin. He's a nice weight and 34 weeks is a good time to be born. For some reason, I find that 35 weekers can have more problems. We usually tell parents to expect their baby to be in hospital until about the week they would have been due to be born, but as someone else said--all babies are different.

Our ICN is almost never overly hot! Quite the opposite, we're almost always freezing. And yes, the warming tables and isolettes can be raised and lowered, but cribs are at one--fairly low--height.

Dawn

scrabblern, RN · Mar 24, 2009

i am 5ft9in and whenever i have to draw multiple labs from a baby who is in an open crib, i do it on a weight scale. the scales are at least 1/2ft taller than open cribs we have so that helps me quite a bit.