Joannie

We don't do footprints as routine, and especially not on the timy premmies, who do not need the handling and certainly don't need ink put on their thin, permeable skin - who knows what chemicals are in the ink! We do prints for stable babies at the parent's request, and when a baby has died we do hand and footprints for the memory box. The doctors wouldn't expect us to do it, and the nurses wouldn't do it anyway!

Nope. We don't do that here in New Zealand.

I don't work in the USA but I have been a nurse for 35 years and there are a couple of points I would like to make. First of all, the experiences related by micugirl may not be like yours, but they are valid nonetheless. None of us have the right to belittle someone else's experience, or their emotional response to that experience. My second point is that grabbing, yelling and insults are unprofessional, abusive and unacceptable behaviour. Surely your training institution has some kind of personal grievance process ? Or your union? Or maybe you have a good friend who has witnessed this inappropriate behaviour and is willing to go with you to your supervisor? (Incidentally, in New Zealand and Australia, a nurse can be suspended for this kind of behaviour). In Saudi Arabia, where I currently work, a report of this kind of behaviour results in a visit to the DCNs office for a disciplinary meeting. Call it what you will, it is horizontal violence, and completely unacceptable.

The last unit I worked in was a very busy unit and we made up all our own infusions - dopamine, fentanyl, morphine etc, and did our own IV adds (KCL, NaCL, etc) and EVERYTHING was checked by 2 nurses. We had very few errors, and interestingly enough most of those were antibiotics. Weird, huh? In the last 3 units I have worked in we used 0.45% saline for PIV flushes and flushed Q6H - made no difference at all to how long the IVs lasted. Just goes to show - check, check and check again. Always.

Just a quick question - was the problem that the stuff in the syringe was not the same as the stuff on the label? Everyone is really quick to blame the nurses for not doing their checks, but pharmacists make mistakes too...... I remember hearing from a colleague about an incident years ago where the pharmacy made up all the TPN with D50W..... My point is that EVERYONE can be responsible for these errors. (By the way, in the unit I work in in the Middle East we don't give heparin as an infusion, it is already in the fluids) (I trained in New Zealand and have never been completely comfortable checking a syringe that I didn't fill myself)

I presume that an LPN is what we in NZ call an Enrolled Nurse - a graduate of a shorter programme of training (18 months I think it was). We used to employ several ENs in our Level II nurseries, but they have now all done their degrees and are now RNs. I think it depends on the policy of the particular hospital whether they are employed in NICUs or not. :)

I know, it sounds impossible to give a preemie a suppository, but it is fairly common practice where I have worked. We cut a sliver off the side of the suppository with a scalpel blade and use KY jelly for lubrication. It usually goes in easily enough, but sometimes you have to just hold your finger against the orifice for a few minutes so they don't shoot it out again !!!!!:roll