Mariel13

Recently moved to a new city due to significant others work. I started a job at a Nicu and recently took care of a baby that was deteriorating. I went in the room and stimulated baby due to apnea which the respiratory therapist came in and yelled at me for doing so saying I should just turn up her o's. I then tried to explain to said person pt wasnt breathing so increasing fio2 will not help which is why I did what I did. After that contacted the NP due to repeating events to which nothing was done charted in the provider notification log that NNP was contacted came to bedside acknowledged my concerns no new orders at this time etc to which the NP went to the charge nurse and told her privately that she didn't appreciate me charting no new orders at this time (which I have always done it was not an act of malice) but this shift really has me contemplating if this facility is a good fit for me or if I should cut ties. I know it's normal to not always love your coworkers but being the new person and already feeling like people don't like you/ the way I have previously been taught in my past 4 years as a Nicu nurse is hard.

Hi all, I have been a Nicu nurse for going on 3 years now. I feel like everyone says you get more confident after the first year and there are certainly days where I feel very confident, but I feel like I also have days where I just miss something and I feel like I shouldn't even be a nurse. I don't know if I just have a massive amount of anxiety and I'm letting it eat at me or if my performance is the issue. For example I recently admitted a baby from the ED the mom had unfortunately passed away and baby was taken to NICU placed on an EEG we started pressors, giving keppra, phenobarbital, cryo, FFP, placed on a cooling blanket for a horrible gas, got a UAC UVC etc. Our docs had decided to switch the art line fluids 3 times to the point where I was scrubbing art line fluids and keppra/ phenobarbital on to the UVC/ UAC at the same time so I didn't have to keep donning sterile gloves/ preparing a sterile field. I lost my art line wave form at one point couldn't figure out why so I had another nurse come look at it. When I scrubbed the sodium acetate on the art line in the cluster of things I was doing I scrubbed it directly onto the hub completely bypassing the transducer so obviously I wasn't getting a wave form. This mistake didn't hurt the patient they would've gotten the sodium acetate regardless through the arterial line, but my coworkers were understandably frustrated with me. In that moment I almost started crying honestly. We sterilely prepared another art line got the wave form back and all was fine, but events like this have really made me wonder whether I am cut out to be a nurse. I don't feel like I have a ton of people to talk to about this my friends all seem happy in their nursing careers and I'm not sure my coworkers even like me. I'm just extremely frustrated with myself and don't know where to go from here.

Not a great answer but in my experience it really depends on the hospital and the ordering physicians. I’ve had a roc drip before for paralysis, in pediatrics vec is used for exacerbation of pulmonary hypertension I've heard people at other facilities say they use succinylcholine a lot more often. There are lots of paralytics to choose from and lots of opinions about which works best for what. I haven’t given them often, but most important thing is to always sedate before you paralyze and absolutely make sure you have an artificial airway of some type.

Hi all, I’m looking for a change in scenery would like to sell my house and move. I’d like to find a state where the working conditions aren’t completely horrendous. Currently from the Midwest/ working in the Midwest. We’ve considered Texas for the weather/ cost of living, but I’ve heard nurses aren’t treated well/ compensated there. Would love to hear some opinions from nurses who have moved around/ travelers. I’m not looking to travel I’ve only been a nurse for two years - one year in my current speciality so I would like to find a really great staff job in another state. Bonus points if you know of a kickass NICU. Thank you for the advice ?