NICU parent teaching

EricJRN, MSN, RN · Oct 5, 2006

I would say it's one of the more important aspects of my job as a NICU nurse. We teach the families a ton of things - info about disease processes, how to change a diaper, how to take a temp, child safety issues - you name it.

Gompers, BSN, RN · Oct 5, 2006

Do NICU nurses do much teaching to the parents about baby-care once at home or is that pretty much left to the post-partum nurses? What about other kinds of teaching? Would those of you nurses out there already working in the NICU consider it to be a big teaching field?? The reason I ask this is because I really love working with babies but am also very interested in maternal-child care as well and am not sure exactly what field of nursing would be best for me. Any responses/suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

If the baby doesn't need to go to the NICU, then the post partum nurse does all the teaching with the moms. If the baby goes to the NICU, then the post partum nurse will teach mom about caring for herself (pumping breast milk, etc.) but the NICU nurses will teach baby care. The baby won't be going home with the mom, anyways, and it's best to do parent teaching near the time of the baby's discharge. Plus the parents of NICU babies require a lot more teaching because they have other things going on besides routine infant care.

RainDreamer, BSN, RN · Oct 9, 2006

We do all the teaching for the baby's care if the baby is admitted to the NICU. The postpartum nurses wouldn't really be teaching baby care since the baby wouldn't be rooming-in with the mom and most likely the baby wouldn't be going home with mom.

Teaching is an on going thing in the NICU. At first the parents need A LOT of reassurance and teaching. We like to get the parents involved as soon as possible. We like them to change the diapers, take the temp, clean the baby's face, change clothes, etc. All of these things take a lot of time and teaching because these parents are scared to death. I've asked parents if they want to change their baby's diaper and they've said to me "we can do that?" It's an incredibly scary time for them.

Once the baby is closer to discharge, a lot more teaching is done in regards to baby's care once they're home. The parents have to go through a checklist of things ...... watching discharge videos, CPR classes, etc. Depending on the intensity of the baby's needs, the parents may need to be taught how to drop a feeding tube and how to gavage a feed. They'll need to know what signs and symptoms to look for and when to take the baby to the doctor/hospital. All of these things aren't taught in just a day or two .... it's an ongoing process, as some of these babies are with us for months.