melissah

It's not only reduction in NICU costs, but reduction in morbidity-- less PICU admissions. Average length of stay decrease, from what I found in the research, is 10 days!!!

Thanks for the input!

Does anybody work in a hospital with a protocol for PICC insertion? The hospital that I work in does not, and many of the nurses are frustrated b/c by the time we "get" to put a PICC in most of the babies veins are blown. I am working on establishing some guidlines for PICC insertion. Any thoughts?:)

Thanks to everyone for responding so quickly! Today I went to work and was surprised to find a rep scheduled to meet with me about a new CPAP system that we may be trialling! It is brand new (released for use about one month ago) and so far we are the first institution in Michigan to take a look at it! (This never happens to us!) Anyways, it is called neopap and combines traditional CPAP with Vapotherm humidification. The prongs and mask are the most soft and pliable that I have ever seen. Also, there is no need to create a super tight fit in order to maintain a seal. The machine automatically adjusts flow to maintain pressure if an infant opens thier mouth :). We were so happy to see this machine, and at just the right time. Makes you wonder who gave the rep the heads up! If anyone is thinking about new CPAP machines I would encourge them to take a look at this one. Other bonuses: an attached flow meter for your bag, a battery (one hour reserve) for transports, and it fits on an IV pole. Thanks again for all of your help.

Recently my institution started to use more CPAP (We are still stuck in the days of intubating everyone). We also switched our prongs from nasal-pharyngeal that had to be taped, to the nasal cannula with the full head gear (Yeah!). While the nurses like these we have had some breakdown despite using nutra-skin on the septum. I have heard that many units switch between the prongs and a mask. Do you do this??? If so does it work well? If you use only the prongs, how do you prevent breakdown? I would really appriciate some advice. Thanks!

Hello, I'm new to this forum as well and a fairly new grad. I can not believe that you are not being offered an orientation to a unit like the NICU. Our policy is 12 weeks for new hires w/o NICU exp. and almost the same for new hires with exp. depending on their skill set and comfort level. Orientation is one on one with another nurse, full time. It also includes class time with NRP cert (of course). In some cases orientation has been extended a few weeks for RNs who feel unprepared. As far as the morphine I agree with the previous postings. Just one of the reasons listed would be enough to warrent morphine use. Many dying infants are experiencing pain, air hunger and anxiety to name a few. Hypoxia can also lead to lactic acid build up which is extremely painful (think cramp in your leg when running). Good luck in the NICU. Hope you enjoy it as much as I have so far!

We use all sizes of covers. Materials have ranged from flannels to cottons. We do not use any materials that have loose fibers directly on the infant (flannel blankets or crib covers). The volunteers have done a great job. The community support from quilting circles, church groups and families of employees is amazing! The only request that we made was dark backing instead of light colors. Of course the light colors were pretty, but the darker better for the baby .