Emberanna

I say just work where you enjoy most. I feel like a "real nurse" even though I would have to find look up the procedure and probably call med/surg to help if I had a PICC line. I have spotted subtle signs in newborns and gotten them higher level care before they crashed, I have handled PP Hemorrhages and anaphylactic reactions and saved lives. And I have had patients ask for me back for their second baby and gush to their friends that "this is the nurse that taught me how to do everything and basically keep my baby alive. I have also had nursing coordinators float our CAs because med/surg needed one ( I guess she thinks we sit around and knit and clip coupons while the moms take care of their babies) and I have had a doctor ask me "why did you switch from skilled nursing to almost retirement" But we have our own professional organization and conferences and certification - so . . . Any way I guess It's just a matter of what makes you happy

Somehow I can't imagine the recommendations of the American Academy of Pediatrics and other such professional organizations being so blatantly ignored as AWHONNs have been.

I will look into getting risk management involved. Just to clarify though, I am performing these tasks in the doorway as not to have there be an infection control issue. Bu the whole thing is absurd.

Is this a common practice? My hospital calls itself "family centered" and practices couplet care. As such it claims to support "rooming in." However there is a long standing culture of kowtowing to the patients every wish and customer satisfaction is the golden rule. In this population of well off older professional women, it is a great "dissatisfier" if we say we cannot watch your baby because we have no nursery nurse. We are not allowed to do this- this comes from above our manager who has been trying to change things since she got here. I have found myself with a bassinett at the nurses station, the other nurse admitting a patient, the CA on her lunch break (as she has a right to do) the secretary answering the phone and door ( and not allowed to watch babies- due to policy/ no NRP) and myself trying to figure out how to answer 3 call lights - Me; Dragging the bassinet down the hall and opening the door: "can I help you" " yes, I was wondering if you could give my baby a bath" ( explained about newborn skin care, not bathing daily etc) Next room: needed pain medicine so I drag the bassinet to the pyxis etc And so on. It's torture and cannot be a safe practice. What can I do? All this with 4-5 couplets. Usually five with 6-7 counting admissions and discharges. What recourse do we have when the staffing recommendations of our professional organizations hold little weight and the joint commission which claims to want patient safety turns a blind eye to the biggest problem of all, staffing practices???

I want too but the file won't let me cut/paste and it is a lot to write. Which staffing are you most interested in? The one that pertains to my job is: the ratio for normal healthy mother/ baby couplets should be no more than 1:3. And the statement goes on to specify that ancillary staff, charge nurses, and lactation consultants should not be included in this ratio, they should be in addition to this.

Our hospital says we are required Implement a problem list for each patient using nanda nursing diagnoses because it meets jcaho requirements. I am supposed to be teaching this to our floor but want to know- what jcaho standard requires this? And why can't I find a list of standards online? Wouldn't it benefit jcaho if I had access to what was required without having to pay for it??? Anyway . . . I am trying to defend the need to do more documentation and want to back it up with fact- google is leaving me empty handed. Help me out nurses!