bmsrn

I give it together frequently in the PACU. Are you thinking of Phenergan with Dilaudid?

Level 3. 70 beds. We had someone celebrate their 1st birthday in our unit. Our docs will NOT transfer them out. When we are full we are continually transferring babies to nursery.

I work in a level III NICU. The only thing we don't do is ECMO. I'm guessing that the only thing that makes somewhere a level 4. I don't think your transition is going to be hard, since you have already had critical babies. You should pretty much ...

Our policy is that you HAVE to scan the patient. Every bedside has a computer and scanner. We have to scan the baby, then the med. Our ID bands are these little labels that look laminated. We usually get 2, so we wrap one around the ankle, then s...

We will tape our feedings like others have mentioned if it's under 10ml. We use 4fr, 6fr, and 8fr feeding tubes. We don't use the 8fr that much. I don't think it's unsafe like mentioned above. It goes pretty slow. I personally think it's a waste...

I only pop the top when necessary. It depends on what I'm doing and the babies size. If they are a micro-preemie I'd only open for an intubation or re-taping the ETT. I see a lot of newer nurses that open it all the time. We don't really have a p...

Get your bachelors degree.

We also never help lock a line. Any kind of central line will have KVO fluids running, it's usually D5w with 1:1 hep, going at 0.3 or 0.5 ml/hr. Our PIVs are saline locked.

First congrats on your pregnancy. Where I work its very hard to hide it. You may tell one person but what if you don't work the same schedule as them?Besides, the minute I see another nurse always doing someone's X-rays we all know what that means. I...

I have both of the main ones. They each have their pros and cons. The big difference for me is that one is outline format and the other is like a textbook with paragraphs.

How about a family nurse practitioner. That way you can do adults or children. You can work in a pediatricians office or even a Walgreens 1 minute clinic- that would have nice hours. I agree with previous posters- get a degree in something you can ac...

How does your unit handle assigning nurses their primary? Will a nurse have their primary every day they work- regardless if the nurse who worked yesterday( and had that baby) is back today- but the primary nurse is working too?

That's how I always thought it was too, and that's how our unit has always been. Since people have complained about having their assignment being switched(especially when they work 3 in a row) when I primary nurse works, our unit manager decided the ...

Surgeons and docs assess our babies when they can. I won't really say it's at their convenience. Our docs are extremely busy. They are gentle with our kids. After they assess, I just re-wrap them and they go to sleep. Our level 2 kids are usually...

It's going to be stressful, especially since this a lot of this is new to you. Honestly, I don't see how someone can expect you to just stroll on in and NOT be stressed. You just need to take it day by day. Maybe you should look at level III NICU'...

I have personally seen quite a few babies have setbacks after those 2 month immunizations, and it's usually the previous micros. It's to the point now to where we separate those 3 vaccines by 24 hours, so they are given over a 3 day period. Previous...

We still do. I have a relative whose a NICU nurse and her hospital does not- something about evidence based practice. Everyone measures differently though, so I usually compare my measurements. Our policy isn't set in stone, definitely not every 4...

We used Vapotherm in our unit until they had their recall. We switched to Fisher Pykel and we've been using that since then. I believe they are pretty much the same thing.

Our unit does not use Vapotherm. That was before my time I guess, but now we just use Fisher Pykels. We also use Sipap- a lot.

I have never heard of this. Is this just a plain NC? And it can be used for NCPAP? So no more velcro head pieces and masks? I went on their website and it looks like the cannulas we use, but we do not use our cannulas for CPAP.

We also have a dedicated med line, and our TPN tubing is portless- so there is no such thing as giving it to the closes port. Things like Amp and caffeine I'll push through my medline, then run my flush over a set amount of time. Our med line tubin...

We limit the use of adhesives. How do you secure a PIV or dress a PICC with no adhesives? For heelsticks, we have what we call OB sponges. They are cotton squares that stretch and stick to themselves. For kids that kick a lot, I just tape over th...

As for spending time with your family, it's no different no matter what kind of nurse you are. I find it's actually easier to spend time with my family. I am also a wife and mother. I find that nurses generally work three 12 hour shifts per week. ...

We do not remove OG/NG tubes during PO feeds on my unit. I have heard of other hospitals doing it though. I guess some doctors feel that the tube can cause reflux or aspiration. Most of our kids who are nippling have NGs in, unless they have a nas...

Our unit does not use the ones from L & D at all. We can literally cut it off once the baby comes to the NICU. There is a universal ID band for our hospital. Ours get printed on a "baby" size and they are adjustable. Everyone gets one. Even ...