Tiki_Torch

A fellow my husband works with called me to ask me if I'd ever heard of a 2 year old child being diagnosed by a neurologist as bi-polar and having Risperdal prescribed. I was floored but kept my cool letting him know that technology advances every ...

I feel like a complete idiot asking this question, but must admit that math was never my forte. It rarely ever happens that a doctor orders IV Ampicillin, 260 mg dose to be given. The 250 mg vial of Ampicillin says to add 2.5 ml preservative free...

How many back-to-back 12 hour shifts do you often do? How do you feel about working several in a row?

How long does your unit generally leave UAC's in? Do you ever use radial artery lines? My previous NICU left UAC's in for no longer than 5 days and then the baby got a radial artery line if they still needed arterial blood gases. My new place keeps...

Prmenrs, as always you bring up a good point! You are correct about the "smart" that alcohol on a cut can cause. This is another reason for quickly wiping the site with a gauze pad. The sucrose and swaddling are already on board. The quick, one sw...

I don't think a lot of people know this tip, but along with the swaddling, sucrose pacifier, raising the head of the bed, certainly warming the heel for 5 to 7 minutes, sticking in the appropriate place on the heel, and allowing the foot to fill with...

Oh My Stars!!! I adore Dr. Polin!!! How fortunate you are to have been able to work with him!!! I've seen him at some nursing conferences and find him absolutely wonderful. Once I attended a conference on my birthday and for my present to myself...

I'm not sure whether you must have worked in the NICU for 2 years or have worked in the NICU for a certain number of hours, or both. What I DO remember is that the number of hours pretty much added up to a person working full time for 2 years. It's...

I agree that "Gastric Residuals" and "Gastric Aspirates" are basically the same thing in that they are both indicating that the contents of a stomach have been retrieved by aspirating the NG/OG tube with a syringe. If the baby is receiving feedings,...

I'd suggest obtaining your RNC from NCC because this credentialing organization is mostly focused on maternal-child nursing. It seems to be the standard for NICU nurses and nurse practitioners to get their certification from NCC. Check out their we...

I ask this question in all seriousness. A nursing friend in Alabama told me that they recently had a hospital inservice about berevement. They said that the speaker said she had checked with everyone of importance and law in the state and that it's ...

We dilute our Gent to 5 mg/ml and give it over 30 minutes on a pump. We never push it. We give Amp over 15 minutes on a pump (100 mg/ml dilution). Our near-term and term babies start Gent at q18h and get Peak and Trough around the 3rd dose. Our pr...

Working in the NICU has not changed my opinion on the issue of abortion. I am pro-choice because I believe that every situation and circumstance is different as well as that every person deserves to make up their own mind about their own lives. Mo...

Threre is a regional methadone clinic in our area so we see our fair share of methadone babies. Just as the others mentioned, we see the same symptoms with the most common ones being very tight muscle tone, irritability, sneezing, loose stools, exco...

I agree about using this time to ask questions and for help as much as you need to. The longer time goes by and your coworkers see you are not asking as many questions, they will be more likely to think you don't have questions and are getting along...

My sister enjoyed the online nursing classes she took through UNA. She had to stop because of family reasons though. She works with several nurses who received their BSNs through the UNA program and none of them every had to set foot on the campus....

I have a question for all of you who take care of well babies along with their moms. When the baby is a healthy near-term (35 or more weeks gestation) who spends their admission without requiring special nursery care, do you do a car seat test on the...

Thank you soooo much obnursesteff! Your post really did help an awful lot. We are doing these tests on Tiki

I'm just a bit curious. At your hospital, when you attend c-sections, do you transport the baby (not preemie or requiring oxygen support) to your well baby nursery or NICU in: (1) a prewarmed transport isolette (2) a regular newborn open bassinet ...

There is an article titled, Resuscitation of the Extremely Preterm Infant: A Perspective from the Social Model of Disability written by Teresa A. Savage, PhD, RN and Karen Kavanaugh, PhD, RN in the June 2004 issue of Newborn and Infant Nursing Revie...

Sounds like a really great plan Elizabells!!! Let us know how it goes! I'm sure we would all be interested to keep up with you as you progress over the next few years!! Tiki

I've worked with a few male RN's in NICUs over the years and enjoyed all but one of them. (The one I didn't enjoy was there simply to earn "critical care nursing time" in order to apply to CRNA school. It was totally obvious that he didn't want to ...

Honesty is always the best policy. The only way to begin to fix a problem is to admit that a problem exists. Congratulations on admitting the problem. Now, lets fix it. Go to your boss and tell them what you did and why. I think if I were your bos...

Hi Elizabells, One plausable option is to work as a bedside NICU RN for 2 or more years (preferably one where you can get lots of experience with lots of different types of patients) before doing the Nurse Practitioner classes. After you have been w...

My two cents: My sister-in-law is a forensic psychiatrist. Before that, she was an internist but got tired of constantly pronouncing people dead...very depressing job. She fulfilled her father's wishes and became a MD. She told me a couple of year...