nurseiam

We usually have at least one long term resident in our PICU. I am wondering if there are any facilities out there with policies specifically for these patients. We still have nurses that will do q 2 bp's, wake a sleeping baby up for an assessment, RT's that will wake a chronic baby up for trach care..... Thanks

I work in a hospital that is two in one. One side has the NICU (next to L&D and Mother/baby) other side is the childrens hospital. We deliver 23+ weeks gestation and are the reginal transport center. So needless to say we have a lot of chronic kids that end up in doing life at the childrens hospital. I was wondering if the are any hospitals out there that have a good transitioning plan in place from NICU to peds/PICU? Our cardiac team has a transition but thats it.

I am pretty good at IV's but suck at drawing labs via butterfly. My trick to a good IV start is when you see flash use your nail to Gentley dislodge the hub off the needle just enough to cover the sharp point of the needle then advance the cath. If you are using a tourniquet remove that before you attempt to flush.

I am in the float pool. We draw from any PIV that will. Depending on the situation I may attempt to draw from a 24g but those are risky. We use mostly 22g and it just depends some nights when I am doing IVT they all draw, some nights none of them do! It saves a lots of tears, pokes and time!

i have a stong nicu background with a passion for deveolomental care. for the last few years i have beeen in the float pool @ the same facility but in peds. i have spent alot of time in our picu recently and i have noticed that even after the most critical time is over there is very little developmental care. alot of these are cardiac babies or former nicu pts that went home for a day or two and are back. i was looking around but i haven't found anything on developmental care for "infants". [color=#9acd32]may it is just me but i can't understand stopping a babies narcotic wean for tremors when the are laying flat unswaddled on a warmer....

i think of feeding a baby breastmilk without gloves is like playing with someones pee!!! its a body fluid and it doesn't belong to you!!!! in our nicu we wear gloves with all vented babies, diaper changes, iv contact and breast milk contact, gowns for holding.

i'm in the float pool. so i make $5 an hour more, plus rnc $1, nights $4, a few week-ends $3.50. i try to do at least one shift a month in less rest 14 hours of 1 1/2 and 2 double time. plus during rsv we go into double time, but i stick to my one shift a month. i think this year i will just break $100k. i have been a nurse for 7 years.

I'm in the float pool. So I make $5 an hour more, plus RNC $1, Nights $4, a few week-ends $3.50. I try to do at least one shift a month in less rest 14 hours of 1 1/2 and 2 double time. Plus during RSV we go into double time, but I stick to my one shift a month. I think this year I will just break $100K. I have been a nurse for 7 years.

We have had similar cases in our unit. It is very hard! A few years ago we had a birth trama, the initial EEG was flat. They gave the parents sveral days before talking to them. By the end of the week she was off the vent. She went home brestfeeding by day 10. I always remember that family and pray that that will happen , but it usually deosn't.

At our place a NICU nurse can be called to any delivery. We attende all C-sections. NNp's can also be called by the nurse and they attend all mec's. And everbody goes to high risk.

Last year I went from NICU to Float pool at a childrens hospital. WOW! My first orientation was heck! It was the ER. I think they expected me to have more basic ped knowlegde. That was rough. Next I did IVT which only took 4 days. We did our own in the NICU. Then I did med-surg, that was great! I had done it on-call for a year. Short stay was also an easy transition. I just finished my PICU orientation. I loved it. It has been the most challanging with a similar environment to NICU. There are soooo many dx! soooo many different meds. At this point in my like my kids are 7 and 13 so I am not ready to make the emotional commitment. I will love doing it as needed! Good Luck! The initial jump is the hardest!

In my unit we take all our breaks together. For 12 hours we take 30 min @ 11p then 1 hour @ 2 or 3a. Some people will run to the lounge and sleep for 50 minutes. I was always too afaid I would oversleep and drool on myself. Instead we go have a great luch that is ALWAYS fun.! :blushkiss

I have a few things. I work 7p-7a. The first night usually with no sleep. I will have a coffee and take 2 excederin at midnight. I usully get up and walk around a few times. At about 630 I try to eat a small snack, cheese and crackers, for a clear head for report. I never drink caffeine after 3a. When I get home I throw off the scrubs put in the earplugs and am asleep by 0830.

I am 34, happily married with two girls, 7 and 12, and a black Lab, Chance. I love to travel, read, and scrapbook. I have been a nurse for almost 7 years. I worked in a level III Nicu for 5+ years. It is a 65 bed unit. I promised myself in nursing school that I did not want to end up one of those crotchity nurses that hated their job. So I took a leap (off a cliff) and took a position in the float pool at the connecting childrens hospital. I have learned so much in the last year. Now I do IVT, ED, Med-surg, and PICU. I am just finishing orientation to the PICU (WOW) so I am going to pick up extra shifts in the NICU. My goal is to do some type of transport, neonatal or AirLift Northwest. When my kids are grown our plan is to get an RV and I can do travel nursing!!!

I have to agree with most of the others. This is a horrible position for a new grad. At my hopital you have to have at least 2 years experience before you will be considered. After almost 6 years in the NICU last year I took a float pool position. I work med-surg, ED, IVT and just started my last orientation into the PICU. It has been culture shock! The meds are different, the scope is much broader in the PICU. The emotions are different. There is a difference between a 23 weeker and taking care of a non accidental trama. This is my take on it.. It is like revisiting your favorite resturaunt but now it has new owners. Things seem the same on the outside but it is all different! My advice would be try one areafor at least two year to get a good foundation and organization. Then try a different area.