nicuRN2007

I've talked to several people who have gone, and everyone says it's amazing. I'm definitely going to go next time one of the exhibits is near me.

Our morphine comes in the 10 mg/ml vials. I pull up 0.1 ml, then pull up 0.9 of NS to dilute it to a concentration of 1 mg/ml. I mix it in the syringe, then push it out to the dose. So if my dose is 0.1 mg, I'll push up 0.1 ml. So now I have the dose in my syringe, but I go ahead and pull up enough saline to fill up the 1cc syringe and mix it so I can push it slower, and that way I'm sure it's not all just sitting in the hub.

As a NICU nurse and being pregnant with my first, that really got to me. What a beautiful family. I can't stop crying!

Hey everyone! I'm a new nurse, and I've been working NICU for 8 months. I'm newly pregnant and I remember reading on here a while back that pregnant women shouldn't take care of patients on iNO. Can you give me more info on this? I've never heard anyone mention this at my job, and I want to be informed in case someone tries to assign me an iNO patient. Also, should I try and stay a safe distance from a patient on iNO, even if I'm not caring for the baby? If so, what is a safe distance? Unfortunately, some of the more seasoned nurses that I work with are a bit cynical of pregnant nurses not wanting to do certain things (holding for x-rays for instance). I don't want to do anything that will possibly harm my baby.

Hey guys. Just wanted to say...I feel the same. I just graduated in May, am recently on my own, and I feel so much anxiety and dread before work sometimes I just don't know what to do. I have always wanted to be a nurse. People tell me all the time that I have the perfect personality/disposition for a nurse, and I do believe it; I do believe that being a nurse is what was meant for me to do. But right now I'm feeling so much stress. I tried to sit back and analyze what it is that is causing me to feel so much stress. I think that there are several factors causing my stress: One is the doctors...we have some doctors that can be really nasty, luckily now that I'm on night shift, I don't have to deal with them as much. The next thing is: I'm afraid of the unknown. I believe that if I always knew exactly what I was going to get, and there were never any surprises (ha ha), I would feel a lot less anxiety, but obviously, that's not the real world. And I think the final cause of my stress is that I am so afraid of looking stupid. People at work tell me all the time that I'm smart and I'm doing great, but I still worry about this a lot. I just try to remind myself that people don't expect me to know everything right now; they expect me to still have questions, but I do have the knowledge I need to handle my job (with the help of my fellow more-experienced nurses, of course). I think it's a good thing for us to post here to remind each other that it's normal/common to feel this way as new nurses. I've heard that if new nurses can get through the first year, it gets a whole lot easier, and I'm trying to keep that in mind. Another thing I think we should do is look at our fellow more-experienced nurses. Are they really all smarter than we are? Probably not, they just have more experience than we have, and experience comes with time. So we just need to stick it out.

I wear gloves when there's a possibility I will come into contact with a bodily fluid (starting IV's, drawing labs, changing diaper [but usually only if it's stool], or when handling breast milk). We scrub when we come in and have alcohol foam at each baby's bedside, which I use before and after handling a baby.

I've worked in 2 NICU's (externed in one while in school, and I now work as a RN in another), and in both, parents are required to wear a hospital gown over their clothes if holding their baby.

Yes, I always use a filter needle to draw the vit. k, and switch back to the other needle.

Thanks for the replies and suggestions on what to say everyone. Glad to know I'm not the only one who's a little unsure of how to take the comment. I love the Giraffe beds! They're great.

Does everyone else hear this a lot? People always say to me something along the lines of, "I don't know how you can do what you do, I can't stand to see those sick babies." I almost don't know how to take this. I'm sure they don't mean it this way, but it's almost like an accusation that I'm heartless to be able to go into work and see these babies without breaking down into tears everyday. Just wondering if anyone else feels this way, and if so, what is your response to this comment? I've just been saying something along the lines of, "It can be hard, but it's worth it," and I also remind them that most of the babies do end up going home.

Hi. Your son will not lose his license if he goes into rehab. He should seek help. There are many awesome nurses who have been through what your son is going through, and have fully recovered. There are several nurses on these boards who have been through this, and I'm sure they will be happy to share their experiences with you and give advice. They will have more wisdom to offer you than I have, and I'm sure they will post a response as soon as they see this thread. You may want to change the title of your post to something more specific to draw the attention of these nurses.

We only filter TPN's, not IL's.

Thanks everyone for the replies. Just curious what goes on in other hospitals. Susan...sounds like you got a good deal there! I might have to come work with you!

Thank you all for your replies. I was just curious what goes on out there in other NICU's.

Hehe. Sorry, don't mean to laugh; it's just funny the way you put it. Now I'm dying to know if you are pregnant. Keep us posted.

I took the hesi and got a 1072 and passed the nclex with 75 questions.

I love 12 hour shifts...I'm a little tired by the end of my 3rd day, but having 4 days off is worth it. It truly gives me time to recover before starting back again. I feel like it gives me time to get things done, and I feel it's better for the patients because of continuity of care. I'm 25 now, with no kids. I just wonder how it will be once I have kids, esp. since I'm night shift.

Hey everyone! I was just wondering for those who work night shift and get a weekend shift differential, when does weekend shift start and end for your hospital? Is Friday night considered weekend at your hospital? Is Sunday night? Also, if you don't mind, how much is your night shift differential, and how much is your weekend shift differential? Our night shift and weekend shift differentials are $3 each.

Do all NICU's use heelsticks only for routine lab draws. We are only supposed to use heelsticks. For some babies, I find heelsticks to be more traumatic than venepuncture, especially those who just don't want to bleed and those with very thin skin. What do you all think?

Our census is about average for us right now, but our acuity is way down.

Aww, sorry about that. I also believe everything happens for a reason, and maybe that job just isn't meant to be.

I think it's very considerate of you who are done having kids to volunteer to assist with the x-rays for the younger nurses. I'm a brand new nurse in the NICU, and I heard some nurses who are no-longer of child-bearing years complaining the other day about a nurse who wouldn't assist with x-rays when she was pregnant. It made me feel a bit uncomfortable because I'm 25 with no kids yet, but will probably start trying pretty soon, and I don't feel comfortable assisting with x-rays when pregnant. It may be a small risk, but it's one that I feel is unnecessary. Hearing them complain about the other nurse makes me feel uncomfortable to ask for their assistance.

Started with over 60, finished with 28.

I found this video on the site that JessicaRN posted. It looks pretty cool. http://www.luminetx.com/video/03-12-07Houston.wmv

We have the large roll around one and a small black hand-held one. I love the small one, it's much more manageable than the roll-around one.