nicurn5

Right now we are on mandatory call 12 hours in 2 weeks. We have had several people quit and the last few months and are trying to replace them but it is taking a while.

My current unit uses tape but I don't like the tape they use it is very easily torn when wet with secretions. I prefer to use the Neobar and tape it in place (and yes it still moves around but not nearly as much as the tape we use to secure out ETT's).

My current unit changes them out every seven days when the infant requires humidity and every 30 days when they do not. My previous unit changed them out every seven days regardless of humidity.

I have used rubber bands, a nurse holding a limb, and Coban. I believe that the rubber band is easier to use as it is easier to remove when no longer needed.

It came and we use but I do not like it. I came from a facility where we had brought in Cerner and it has more features than EPIC. EPIC won't add up our blood loss from tests. A true pain in the ..... The IT guys tried to tell me that Cerner went down too much and this was a better alternative but I disagree. Cerner was easier to read especially when it comes to reading orders. You sometime have to hunt for what you have been told to order or what you have been told has been ordered.

I also work in a facility where the "powers that be" have instituted a program for the staff to use trigger language to prompt the patients when they are polled after their stay to say that they had a good experience in the hospital. STUPID!!! It has taken me over 10 years to figure out that if I am polite but firm with our families, I usually don't have a lot of problems. A nursing instructor once told me "Pick the hill you want to die on." There are days that I pick the family situation (supporting the nurses I work with that day). The nurses that I work with start from the very beginning of the admission to inform the parents of the babies that we will only give information to MOM and DAD. No exceptions. (Thank you HIPPA!) Then we remain polite when family members start to insist on info. "I'm sorry, I can not give any information to any one but the parents." :yeah:If the family member is a medical person (MD, RN, CNA, etc.) I remind them that HIPPA does not allow for me to give them information even though they will "understand". "I'm sorry but federal law prohibits me from giving you any information." A subtle reminder that they are not going to get anything out of me. Find your boundaries, set them, and keep them. Be polite but firm. Keep your word to a patient. Come back to check on them when you say you will be back. Apologize if you are delayed. It saves a lot of grief for me and should work on the adult units as well as the NICU.

I used the Handbook for Neonatal Intensive Care Nursing (edition 5?) I just reviewed the topics on the outline provided by the NCC. Jennifer W:nurse: