FOOTPRINTS

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I was just wondering what other units do for footprints. Currently, we are expected to do footprints on everyone when they are admitted. Whether they are a 400 g 23wkr or a 4000 g mec aspiration/PPHN kid and everything in between. The nurses are split. Some say, just do the footprints on everyone, and others say, not until they are stable. The main problem is we do not have inkless footprinters. So alot of people are upset about having to put ink on the tiny ones and scrubbing it off the ones who need extreme minimal stim. What does your unit do? I would love to hear all about it! Thanks!

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Specializes in NICU. Flight Nursing, Med-Surg.

We don't do footprints as routine, and especially not on the timy premmies, who do not need the handling and certainly don't need ink put on their thin, permeable skin - who knows what chemicals are in the ink! We do prints for stable babies at the parent's request, and when a baby has died we do hand and footprints for the memory box. The doctors wouldn't expect us to do it, and the nurses wouldn't do it anyway!

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Specializes in NICU.

We do footprints at admission / as soon as the baby is stable enough / has no IVs on their foot. As far as getting the ink off - we have found that the hospital lotion works extremely well! Just put a big glob of the lotion on a diaper cloth and the ink comes right off of their feet!

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Can I tag on this question? Do you do footprints as hospital record?

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Specializes in NICU Level III.

We do them on everyone upon delivery (so the NICU nurses don't actually do them). But where I am now uses ink. Last place had a piece of plastic that you pressed the foot on and it would transfer the ink from there.

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Specializes in NICU.

We aren't required and we don't do it for hospital record.

Usually in the first couple of days (depending on how stable the kid is) we do a set of footprints to put on the name signs we make for the babies. And after that we do them at the parents' request or whenever, it's really up to the nurse.

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Specializes in ICN.

About a year ago, we started doing footprints on all babies, regardless of size or how sick they are. If they are admitted, they get footprints done (sometimes just one, if there is an IV on one foot). We have inky footprinters, which are messy, but using aquaphor or A&D takes it right off.

Dawn

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Specializes in NICU, Infection Control.

I agree about the premies and their permeable skin: NO INK!!! An inkless gizmo would be ok, or wait till they're a week-10 days old. If TPTB insist on the ink, cover the baby's foot w/saran wrap?

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Specializes in Level III NICU.

We stopped doing footprints as part of the hospital record a year or 2 ago. We still do them sometimes for parents, or when a baby dies for the memory box.

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Specializes in ICN.

(PreemieRNkate) We stopped doing footprints as part of the hospital record a year or 2 ago. We still do them sometimes for parents, or when a baby dies for the memory box.

Interesting, because we just started doing them for the hospital record about a year or so ago. Now the charge nurse comes through doing her quality assurance checks every week to look for those footprints in the chart.

Dawn

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our kids come up from L&D pre-printed

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We do footprints of the infant and thumbprint of mom at delivery on all infants for the Hollister record. We use the inkless wipes. We also do footprints on a "keepsake" birth certificate when the infant is stable, that is sent to medical records to have all the information typed in. Med. records then mails it to the parents.

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