Parents never cease to surprise me

[NFB2008]

So, when we send babies home, we always have the parents demonstrate CPR. I was discharging a baby to a young mother and was getting ready to have her demonstrate CPR. She asked if she could demonstrate on her baby! Apparently her mother told her to ask that! That so freaks me out! It's no wonder that some of these young girls have no clue when their parents clearly have no clue (not that I'm making excuses because I think we get to a point where we have to make our own decisions). I sometimes wonder how these young girls even made it when I meet their moms who seem to have no clue how to care for a baby. It blows my mind.

[Jolie, BSN]

Yes, you are correct. WeeBabyRN should have said "Medicaid," since I doubt that the mother is 65 or older.

If I may be so bold as to speak for another poster, I believe she is making the point that when a patient is receiving care at the expense of the taxpayers, and not self pay, the care should be utilized appropriately. Boarding a well infant who is ready for DC is not an appropriate use of taxpayer dollars.

[HappyBunnyNurse]

Sadly though some parents are the opposite and are eager to get their child home so they can start getting the "check".

[doularoz]

For those of us that have been doing this for YEARS, it can get frustrating to see abuses of the welfare system over and over. I think it was clear that this was not a judgement about the mom being on medicade, however that does not help when the child does not need NICU care yet the taxpayers have to pay the bill. Respectfully, I thought your comment was more condecending than the origional post. This is a place where we come to vent. Just curious, are you a NICU nurse?

[talaxandra]

Another baby, born with severe holoprosencephaly, was deemed a "girl" at the referring hospital. Upon assessment at our facility, we explained to the father and grandmother that the baby was most likely a boy with a micromember and that we'd send for chromosomal analysis. I, as the nurse, had a hard time getting over the cyclopia and single nare... but grandma was more concerned about "other" things... she asked me if the baby was going to be gay. I was utterly speechless...

Did you say "that would be a fantastic outcome - most infants with holoprosencephaly so severe that it includes cyclopia die within weeks"?

[300g]

Did you say "that would be a fantastic outcome - most infants with holoprosencephaly so severe that it includes cyclopia die within weeks"?

That would have been the perfect response. Wish I'd have thought of it!

The baby lived for 3 days.