nicu tinkerbell

Hi! One of our night shift charge nurses is a guy and is easily one of the most well liked and well respected RN's in our unit. It adds another element to have guys in the unit nad makes what can be a long 12 hours a little more fun. I agree that fathers really like him and he is someone they can relate to. Most of our RT's are men too, so he's not short on male company. It takes a speial person to work NICU. I say if that person is you go for it!

Oue doctors use early extubation all the time. We piloted a new form of o2 herapy about a year and a half ago called vapotherm. The o2 goes through specail tubing and a special cartridge that makesit warmed and highly humidified. it is delivered through special nasal prongs hat are the size of a regular nasal cannula. Because it is highly humidified we can give higher flow rates(on adults you can give 10-15 LPM and I've heard you can harldy feel it) It is very comfortable for the babies and we hardly use conventional CPAP any more. We have only had 1-2 cases of NEC in that time. Even on 28 weekers we tube 'em, surf 'em, and if they are stable and we can wean on vent settings, we wean to vapotherm within a week or so, sometimes even less. Good for the parents too, the can hold the sooner.