NurseKerry

I did not like this show. It overdramatized just about everything. I spent the whole time pointing out positioning errors, bad po feeding techniques, bad parent education.....I won't watch it again. :down:

We are a 52 bed, level 4 ECMO center, we have 2 clerks up front at all times, they put all our orders in and have plenty of time to do the rest of their work.

We have an AED at the top of our stairs (the NICU is on the 4th floor). It never fails that every semester, one of the residents will pull the door open to play with it. This send the "Code Blue, 4th floor" announcement off and we all go running to find either, 1 - a red in the face resident holding the aed with shoulders shrugged or, 2- the sound of a rapid descending adult hitting the 3rd floor landing. Always worth the trouble!

I would recommend being a full time NICU nurse for 3-5 years. The NNPs in my facility that went straight through have all wished they had waited. You gain experience and an education at the bedside that College cannot give you. Also, there is a nationwide NNP shortage, if you are in good standing as an RN in a NICU associated with a university you may be able to get your DNP paid in full if you contract to work for that hospital for a specific number of years.

My hospital's ICU's are hiring new grads to save money. Now is the time to apply. You need to have your organization skills DOWN PAT. NICU is about micromanaging your time. You need to be able to show that you are punctual, assertive and caring in your interview. Have a clear cut answer as to why you want to be a NICU nurse. Do not say "because it sounds like fun" or something of that nature. Research what kind of babies you would be caring for in that specific NICU, there are many different populations; surgical, respiratory, etc.. NRP is good if you will be working in a delivery center. PALS (pediatric advanced life support) is good if you will be working in a tertiary center. S.T.A.B.L.E books can be purchased online, they go with the NRP program. Hope this helps.

Primary Children's Medical Center In SLC, Utah. We have a nursing based ECMO team. The NICU and PICU nurses run the whole show. We have an amazing Attending that helps with oversee but it is a truly nursing based program. All of the training is done in-house. Through the NICU there is a significant amount of education and testing to be passed to get to be able to apply for the ECMO module but you can fast track it if you are willing to put in the effort. I am not sure how the PICU does it.

In our hospital, footprints go in and out of vogue based on the frequency of abduction scares. If your institution is insistent on doing them, insist on inkless footprinters for any babies less than 34 weeks.

Thanks everyone. The largest hurdle is the mix of acuity on our unit. We often have an adjusted term, former 25 wkr with an oscillator on one side and ECMO on the other. It gets so hard to meet all their develomental needs. All suggestions appreciated!

We keep parents out during report as we give it at the bedside. My hope is to eventually get several quiet hours during a 24 hour time period. I am looking at doing a study regarding improved feedings related to quiet hour. Have you noticed an improvement in feeding after quiet time?

We have instituted "Quiet Hour" in our NICU. From 1600 to 1700 daily we encourage the staff to keep all non critical conversation to a minimum and postpone all noncritical interventions with infants, allowing for one full hour of uninterrupted sleep. We are a level III+ NICU. We have 4-6 babes per room with intermingled acuity. This has been gaining steam since it's inception in January. Do any of your NICU's have a quiet time? How is it going for you? I have found the better the candy bribes the quieter the unit. I may break our unit's budget on snickers bars and peanut butter cups!

Make sure the skin is very dry. Put the stoma paste in a syringe and apply very thin rings of paste between stoma and any gaps in wafer. Heat the wafer before you apply it. And place a hotpack on after the bag is fully applied, this will help the wafer adhere to the skin.

I am a bedside nurse with 6 years NICU experience that has been the Developmental Support person for 2 years. My role is to be a support to the staff in all things development..go figure. I work in a Level III+ NICU. We are an ECMO center and have mostly surgical babies. Another part of my job is to keep the unit current on what is going on out there in the developmental world. My hope is to find other nurses in my position to bounce ideas off of and vica-versa.