Published Jan 28, 2005
mermom
29 Posts
Hi nurses,
Would you please share your funny preemie/NICU pet names for things, like some of these for example:
first attempt at breast-- "meet and greet"
under oxyhood-- in da 'hood
c-pap-- elephant impression
coming off of monitors-- (baby's name) unplugged
etc
I hope you don't mind this frivolous request. As a preemie mom I along with other preemie parents found these amusing bits of NICU humor a very welcome comic relief.
Thanks
Wen
Gompers, BSN, RN
2,691 Posts
I hope moms with NICU babies aren't offended by any of these...they're just things that we happen to say often in my NICU.
"Little birdie" - usually a 28-32 week skinny newborn preemie wth lots of hair on its head - their delicate features make them look like a sweet baby bird who fell out of a tree.
"Throw 'em in a box" - we'll say this once a preemie has gotten stabilized enough to move from the radiant warmer into an isolette.
"Milkshake" - when a baby's formula is very high-calorie or has lots of crazy additives. (i.e. Breast milk+Neosure 27+MCT oil+Promod+NaCl+rice cereal)
"Stylin'!!!" - when parents bring in tons of cute clothes and blankets, so the baby and its bed always looks like a Babies R Us display.
"Makeover" - when we change all the tape on a baby's face.
"Wimpy white boy" - pretty common statement, but we often use it as a term of endearment because we feel so protective of these fragile baby boys.
"Saw the light" - a delicate way to say that a baby coded but was successfully resuscitated.
dawngloves, BSN, RN
2,399 Posts
I don't think mine would be appreciated by parent either.
Jelly Baby:
Looking at the light :Brady that requires bagging.
lmcnabbkv
94 Posts
boob juice!
i picked this up from a preceptor...i can't immediately think of any others
fergus51
6,620 Posts
I know a lot of offensive ones, but no cute ones come to mind right now...
cswain12000
63 Posts
C-CRAP rather than CPAP anybody agree? I doubt that a parent would appreciate that one--but how about us NICU nurses?
I was thinking more along the lines of "parent-friendly" terms of endearment.
For example:
Isolette-- womb with a view
Preemie tank top-- nurse-beater
step-down unit/feeder-grower room-- fat farm
Heat lamp-- french fry warmer/bun warmer
Lactation room-- dairy farm
prmenrs, RN
4,565 Posts
I called our breastfeeding room the Pump Room.
KRVRN, BSN, RN
1,334 Posts
Comforting a fussing baby with a pacifier - binkying him or I binkied him.
Baby doing poorly - Circling the drain.
Withdrawing care and extubating - Going to Heaven today.
Post bad brady/desat - the baby tried to die.
self extubation: attempted suicide
pacifier: baby plug
death/heaven: transferred to level 4 NICU
nekhismom
1,104 Posts
Hey, I work in a level 4 NICU!! That is one of the biggest stereotypes we face at my unit. Recently we had a mom of multiples who had a baby sent to us and she was petrified because the NURSES at the level 3 NICU said "babies only go to _______ Hospital to die." Sometimes, babies DO die in level 4 NICU's, but we often get babies from small hospitals without ANY NICU care available, and surgery pts from level 3 nicu's, as well as the SUPER SICK ones.
I'm not offended, but I just see that comment negatively affecting parents where I work.
BittyBabyGrower, MSN, RN
1,823 Posts
We just say the Celestial Discharge.