Like the set of parents we have right now, their baby is in the ICU room, lines etc , but will be a short term stay, compared to the 24 week, now 30 week tiny in the next bed space. These parents come in, are so loud..bring the 4 yr old sibling from haades, who I swear, flashed his eyes at me red, when Iasked him to sit on his behind and stop jumping and touching stuff!! Anyhow, today, my wee tiny is out for kangaroo care with her mammy, all nice and quiet, after 3 days of being unwell, and this family come in and totally spoil the quality of the cuddles for the mammy and baby who needed it so! They are an obnoxious family, gentle hints dont work, and their noisy behaviour had an effect on the really sick preemie who needed time out with her mother.
How do you guys handle such loud families...(apart from tripping up the "damien" boy, so they HAVE to leave to visit the emergency room???) (am only kidding about tripping him up btw..well, I THINK I am!)
I never feel like this about families, Ilove the kiddos that visit, but this family are so disrespectful of whats happening around them, I'm going :devil: every time they come in. Any tips on tactfulness guys????
Pk's are always the worst, danissa! I grew up with a couple of PKs that you wouldn't believe, drinking, drugs, etc, etc. I was an angel compared to them. Wonder why they are like that?
LMAO, maybe its a southern thing, or just a NC thing. Pks are preachers kids! General term to mean the children of any kind of religious figure around here. Usually used to describe the evil child of said figure, lol.
Glad it's not just me. Sometimes I want to drag them over to an ACTUAL sick baby and say 'there is a very sick baby that will probably die. Stop being so damn selfish and shut up and leave us alone'. Similar to when they ask constant questions about nothing when you are in the middle of doing something that needs full concentration and could render death or loss of my job if it goes wrong.
The comment about burping a bay too hard reminds me of a relative saying 'that baby is always crying and they don't do anything about it' in a really loud voice meant for us. You can't really say 'that baby is withdrawing from her mum's multiple drug use and is on quadruple phototherapy so can't be all snuggled up or have constant cuddles'.
You do your best and if it's not good enough then tough!!
We are getting ready to open 24/7 to anyone and everyone that cares to visit with mom. This includes kids of all ages. Pray for us.
So are we. While I think it's important for families to meet their newest members, having a bunch of kids running around tends to give the impression that this is not actually an Intensive Care unit. Winter is OK because of RSV restrictions, but in summer there are very young visitors running around all the time, day and night.
I was surprised this was the case; I would think from a safety and infection standpoint this wouldn't be such a great idea .
That's called denial!!! It's not really about someone else's baby, but having your baby in the NICU can be seen as a "reproductive failure"--or @ least a threat. They can feel guilty, esp mom; dad can feel an attack on his "macho". (this can have a heavy cultural component) Then there's comparison--is your baby as sick, more sick, less sick than the others?
Just food for thought??
Yes, well said....especially the comparison. I was this mom once (now a NICU nurse) when my kids were 680g/970g preemies. I never directly asked, only listened/heard about the other babies around me. It always made me feel hollow and empty to think my son was the sickest child in the room, and in some ways made me feel things were going to be ok and I had things to be thankful for if I heard that another baby was also having difficulties. It's hard to know how that parent feels unless you have BEEN in those shoes. I have.
I'm a nurse who has been on both sides of the show. Although I have never worked in the NICU. I have had a baby in there for a few weeks. And I was amazed to just how many babies Never had a visitor. Is this pretty common?
We are getting ready to open 24/7 to anyone and everyone that cares to visit with mom. This includes kids of all ages. Pray for us.
My goal is to be a NICU nurse, but so far I've only been a NICU mom and still that feels wrong to me. There needs to be guidelines and strictures on who can visit and when.
Something from a different perspective but dovetailing here, I've been a geriatric nurse for years, dealing with quite a number of patients who are on the opposite end of the spectrum - the natural end to a long life.
Several months ago we had a long-term resident beginning her end-of-life process. When the family was made aware of this, they began their bedside vigil, thinking their loved one would be gone in a short amount of time. (We thought so, too, but it was several weeks before her fight was done. She was a feisty, determined woman. We all loved her for this fierceness) This vigil prompted a weekend-long party in the facility, including coolers full of beer and bongs in the parking lot. I am not kidding.
This was completely disruptive to staff, for sure, but more importantly the other residents in the facility. I can imagine how disruptive small children and nosy parents can be in the NICU.
(am only kidding about tripping him up btw..well, I THINK I am!)
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crissrn27, RN
904 Posts
Pk's are always the worst, danissa! I grew up with a couple of PKs that you wouldn't believe, drinking, drugs, etc, etc. I was an angel compared to them. Wonder why they are like that?