PinkNBlue

Wow. I would LOVE it if I could hire a male for our unit. I wish someone would apply! LOL! Good for you!!

I’m sorry to hear that!! What exactly is it that you dread?

Thank you for your reply! Our techs do vitals and blood draws from 5-7am so that probably wouldn’t work. And we don’t do baths anywhere but the mom’s bedside (even if she isn’t interested in watching, which I’ve yet to come across honestly). We used to do them in the nursery at night, especially if they were a multip but no longer do this as most everything is done at mom’s bedside. There are days where day shift has 15 baths to do and they’re very unhappy. It’s challenging because it’s best for the patient to 1) wait until they’re ready to learn (and 2am is not an ideal time to learn, honestly) and 2) we look at it as a task vs the patient, who looks at it more as an experience. It’s so tricky. Thanks again. I’m glad to know it’s not just us who experience this challenge. ?

I think majority of us know by now that delaying the initial bath is evidence-based and is best for the newborn. We wait 12 hours and a lot of the times, if the bath falls on night shift, the parents don’t want it until the next day. This leaves day shift with a significant amount of baths to be done. Our nursery nurse divides them amongst the primary couplet nurses, the techs and the nursery RN. But it’s definitely caused some animosity between the shifts because day shift feels like night shift is dumping the baths on them when, in reality, the parents don’t want the bath done at 2am. If you delay the bath, what is your workflow? ?

Oh girl, don't beat yourself up. Seriously. You realize what you should have done, the patient is ok and it made you aware that rest is very important to ensure safe patient care. It could have been a much worse mistake, especially running on fumes. As for people talking about you... unfortunately on our units, with the ridiculous amounts of estrogen and women who have nothing better to talk about, it may be the topic for now. But it'll fade soon. And any nurse should realize that this could happen to any of us, at any time. Go back and be the awesome nurse you are.

Hi all. Right now, we treat our infants with phototherapy while they're in an isolette. We are looking at more 'family friendly' ways to treat this population of infants. 99% of the time, the infants stay in the nursery under the lights and are taken back to mom for feedings. We're looking into omitting the isolette and using a bilibed, like the Natus neoBLUE, that just sits in the crib. Some of the concerns from the nurses are, maintaining the baby's temperature since it's not in the isolette. If you use the bilibed, have you had issues with cold babies? I've used non-isolette phototherapy set ups at another hospital, and don't remember having temp issues. Any info would be awesome!! Looking forward to hearing what ya'll do for these phototherapy babies! Thanks!!

Thank you guys! It's going to be a big challenge I can already tell. We get such grief from some of the nurses who've been there for ages already, if a parent requests to delay the bath currently. Frustrating. I appreciate everyone's input!

Cayenne, thank you SO much for that information. I think that will be extremely beneficial in the roll out of this new initiative. I greatly appreciate your input. The culture of the unit is very negative, which is so upsetting to me. It's all about what's best for the nurses when really, this needs to be about the patient and their experience. It's not about us. prnqday, sure! I'll attach some articles here. UNRAVELING THE MYSTERY OF VERNIX CASEOSA http://www.who.int/maternal_child_adolescent/documents/guidelines-recommendations-newborn-health.pdf (page 4) “Wait for Eight”: Improvement of Newborn Outcomes by the Implementation of Newborn Bath Delay - Lipka - 2

Can I get some information on what you do at your facility regarding bathing the newborn? How did staff react? I know majority of the research states to delay the newborn bath 12-24 hours. We are looking into delaying the bath as well (currently we bathe approximately 2 hours after delivery, unless parents request to wait). I'm already seeing (and hearing) pushback and it hasn't even been instituted or really talked about much yet. The culture on this unit is very "this is what we've always done". Thanks! I appreciate any info!!

I completely agree. I've worked in OB for many years and this is how "it's always been done". It's definitely a culture thing. We do have sections that have just adequate output so I'm always leary to discontinue the fluids (usually low due to Duramorph etc). I work in a unit where the culture is exactly this way and it's hard (very very hard) to change. And I understand how frustrating that is.

Is this real life? ?

Holy cow ?

Awww best wishes to you and your new little bundle. I've seen 35-36 weekers do awesome and 41 weekers need more help. It all depends on the situation and how well baby tolerates everything. Best wishes and prayers you make it to your section!

Exactly cd. Take the opportunity to do something you love while the opportunity still exists. :)

I think I need to listen to the advice I'm about to give you lol but I agree and think you should wait a bit longer before you make a decision. I recently went to a different hospital altogether (started last week) and am pretty homesick for my old unit. I feel like a fish out of water and wanted to quit today. People say it takes about 6 months to start feeling comfortable in a new environment and 1 yr to really feel good about it. That's a bit daunting to think about so I'm just going to go one month at a time. ? Good luck to you!