I took care of a patient today who was post op day one still on a PCA. I went in this morning and said hi. We chatted for a minute because her older daughter was the same age as my daughter. Then she asked for her baby from the nursery. I had someone bring her the baby. Then I continued on my rounds.
About 45 minutes later I heard a cry from the hallway. I ran into the room and the patient was hysterically crying holding her baby. She was crying, "They left me alone! Why did they leave me alone?" She said she was sitting in the chair holding the baby when she suddenly dozed off and the baby rolled onto the floor. I grabbed the baby and brought her to the nursery.
The baby was fine but when the patient's husband showed up he was ******. He said, "How could you leave her in the room alone with the baby? She was on morphine. She can't take care of the baby by herself." He made a big stink about it. Supervisors were involved. I was up to my knees in paperwork. Now the nurses are starting to question non-separation. But have you ever had a mother drop her baby on postpartum? Who's ultimately responsible when a postpartum mother drops her baby?
I' am not a nurse yet but I will have to agree with another post on sounding like a set up "law suit". However, I had put some thought into this an one thing that stuck out to me is, Patient was on Morphine, I don't know the rule of your hospital but when I has surgery after giving birth to my third son. I couldn't hold my son unless 1) Medicine worn off/didn't need pain meds no more or 2) Someone was in the room with me. This story give me goose bumps to many ideas in my head. This is like a puzzle with missing pieces. On the other hand, thank god baby is okay and the husband better thing twice about leaving mommy alone at home with the baby when they leave the hospital.
Specializes in Nurse Leader specializing in Labor & Delivery.
I thought the older daughter was in the room with the mother.
Depending on the age of the daughter, that would not fly at any facility I've worked at. While inpatient, the mother is not allowed to be sole care provider for children. If the child is younger than, say, 12 or 14, then another adult has to be there to take care of the other child(ren). We've had fathers try to drop off kids in the morning before work so they could spend the day with their mother, who just had major abdominal surgery and can barely get out of bed. Um...NO.
Specializes in M/S, LTC, Corrections, PDN & drug rehab.
Depending on the age of the daughter, that would not fly at any facility I've worked at. While inpatient, the mother is not allowed to be sole care provider for children. If the child is younger than, say, 12 or 14, then another adult has to be there to take care of the other child(ren). We've had fathers try to drop off kids in the morning before work so they could spend the day with their mother, who just had major abdominal surgery and can barely get out of bed. Um...NO.
Well she said her older daughter was the same age as her daughter but didn't state the age or if she was still in the room when the baby was dropped.
No the other daughter wasn't with her. The patient was alone for the majority of her hospital stay. Her husband worked and her mother was watching her daughter.
Specializes in M/S, LTC, Corrections, PDN & drug rehab.
No the other daughter wasn't with her. The patient was alone for the majority of her hospital stay. Her husband worked and her mother was watching her daughter.
We have pts on pain meds all the time . Why did you leave her alone? Because shes a grown woman..this isnt her first rodeo and she was fine!! How is that ur fault??
I'm just starting my maternity clinical. OP, I think you bring to light an important topic, so I asked what the policy is at our facility. I was told that moms on PCAs are NOT allowed to be alone w/ the baby unless the dad is in the room.
Interesting. At my hospital we are baby friendly designated, so babies never come out of moms room unless they are sick or a procedure such as a circumcision is being done. Otherwise the baby never leaves moms room. Babies stay in the room with moms who are on Mag, Foley catheters, sp csection...and we do not have a nursery to take baby to if parents ask (no staff there to watch babies) and from what I was told we usually tell the mom to have someone come be with baby if she wants some shut eye or something..once in a while a nurse will take a baby to the nursing station whiles she's charting or something if parents are really desperate, but I have seen this rarely. I have also never seen a pca on our floor in use, or anyone on morphine or any IV narcotics. Just po norco usually, or Tylenol no 3.
I wish hospitals wouldn't close their nurseries for this reason, but of course it costs lots of money to staff a nursery 24/7 so they don't want to keep them open.
McMann83
6 Posts
I' am not a nurse yet but I will have to agree with another post on sounding like a set up "law suit". However, I had put some thought into this an one thing that stuck out to me is, Patient was on Morphine, I don't know the rule of your hospital but when I has surgery after giving birth to my third son. I couldn't hold my son unless 1) Medicine worn off/didn't need pain meds no more or 2) Someone was in the room with me. This story give me goose bumps to many ideas in my head. This is like a puzzle with missing pieces. On the other hand, thank god baby is okay and the husband better thing twice about leaving mommy alone at home with the baby when they leave the hospital.