new2manage

Let me clarify. We have been doing couplet care for 2 years now and typically this works well and I do agree that this is best for mom and baby. My concern is that the nursery nurse is not being staffed at all on Sundays and placed on call whenever the House Supervisor sees fit- if there are not any designated special care babies. Nursery nurses placed on call have a 30 minute window on average to get to the hospital. If a laboring patient goes bad (and we all know they do without warning) you have a 30 min delay getting specialized care to that infant other than what the the trained NRP/L&D nurse provides. I want a trained nursery nurse in house at all times whether she's bedside at delivery or not- she/he should be available. Am I being unreasonable?

So do your L&D nurses admit infant as well as take care of recovering patient and possibly other laboring? Or is there a designated nurse that assumes care of infant at delivery?

I am going to work in a unit where staffing has recently been overhauled. The nursery nurse is not utilized on a regular basis at all. The nursery nurse is only staffed if there is a special care baby that is not stable enough for mother/baby care. The Labor and Delivery nurse is responsible for admitting her own infant and the baby is taken to postpartum with mother following immediate (1-2 hour postpartum) recovery. I am not OK with this at all. Espcecially considering that L&D if frequently short-staffed. What are the thoughts on this? I understand the notion of saving money but I find this absurd. Am I out of line?