Baby Wrangler replied to karnicurnc's topic in NICU
We do! The docs, NPs and the dieticians use it. It looks like the things they use to measure your feet in a shoe store lol. I will try and find out tomorrow when I'm at work which brand it is.
Baby Wrangler replied to adventure_rn's topic in NICU
Can't management shell out to get a dishwasher just for pumping equipment and bottles? We just got one last year for the moms to wash their pumping equipment and baby bottles. You can disassemble the Dr. Brown's and stick the little pieces in a mesh ...
There's very few nursing jobs that don't require lots of standing unfortunately. Especially like other posters said, when you have an emergency you're on your feet the whole shift drawing up meds, taking bloodwork, doing procedures, etc. There's also...
I'm in Canada but one of my colleagues just came back from the states and she said that the nicu where she worked, Ann and Robert Lurie children's hospital are usually hiring. I don't know if that's "north of the loop" haha, but it is in Chicago.
I'm not the most outgoing person either but often times it's the caring attitude and attentive listening that is more important to parents than constant babbling and incessant small talk. I mean, their baby is in hospital and they are not there to ma...
We use a zinc barrier cream called Zincofax, but that's just for like mild diaper rashes. We also use Aquaphor, which is glycerin mixed with sterile water, or Critic aid cream for worse rashes. Once I had a primary baby with a really bad bum rash tho...
Hi fellow Canadian! :) Another documentary that I would suggest you watch is called Keeping Canada Alive, and it's free to stream on the CBC website. It was just filmed in May of this year, and it's about the different areas of the Canadian health ca...
Baby Wrangler replied to BabyRN1023's topic in NICU
Wow! 160 beds! That's the largest nicu I've ever heard of. Our nicu which is a level 3 only has 54 beds at max capacity (which it almost always is). We've been pretty short staffed lately, but it's usually two babies to three babies per nurse unless ...
Not so much things to look up beforehand but what I found helpful was to write down the things you learn every day after a shift in a notebook, like procedures, what you need for procedures, tips your preceptor gave you, what are the norms for vital ...
Baby Wrangler replied to mrscreixell's topic in NICU
Do you guys notice any difference between them and the other kind? It would be nice if all our babies that needed cpap could be on RAM. No more nasal breakdown.
Baby Wrangler replied to tinkerbell419's topic in NICU
Tinkerbell, I think you should look for another nicu job. You've stuck out your year at this place and working somewhere where you're short staffed to the point where you can't provide quality patient care is not worth it. Our unit was really bad at ...
Baby Wrangler replied to mrscreixell's topic in NICU
We have ram cannulas too but I was told by our RTs that because it's less of a seal around the nose it doesn't actually provide the same amount of pressure as the mask cpap. We generally only put our babes that can tolerate a lower cpap pressure on t...
Baby Wrangler replied to tinkerbell419's topic in NICU
Do you mean prepacked as in stock meds? That's what we call the medications that are in our med room that are not prepared in a specific dose for a specific baby. We generally only use them on admits on nights. Otherwise, pharmacy prepares all the me...
Baby Wrangler replied to Apple4159's topic in NICU
I think Apple is talking about the T-piece that you would attach to the IV catheter of the PIV. We generally change the T-piece of a PIV (and prime it with saline) after giving a blood transfusion because it's hard to flush all the remaining blood ou...
Baby Wrangler replied to canigraduate's topic in General Nursing
Agreed! I work NICU and once had a dream that it was shift change and I had apparently forgotten to feed a baby the entire shift. I think it's related to workload and insane assignments.
Like BecomingNursey said, don't be afraid to ask questions. The fact that you doubt yourself to some extent is a good thing. Nothing pisses off more experienced nurses than new grads that think they know everything and nothing is more scary than some...
Baby Wrangler replied to LisaNICUrn's topic in NICU
Just worked a shift yesterday, had a quiet moment near the end of shift change and was just watching my little primary sleeping in her isolette. Little IUGR 500g baby that's more than doubled her weight in a month. She looked so calm and comfy, it ju...
Baby Wrangler replied to HarleyNrs's topic in NICU
Usually around the 36-37 degree range (that would be Celsius). If there is a lot of "rain-out" like condensation coming out into the baby's nose then the RTs tend to lower the temperature. For the bigger cpap babies in cribs though, I have seen like ...
Baby Wrangler replied to tinkerbell419's topic in NICU
I think dexamethasone is a good pick. We also use budesonide, an inhaled corticosteroid to help with chronic lung disease in our microprems. Here's an article: Postnatal corticosteroids to treat or prevent chronic lung disease in preterm infants | ...
Baby Wrangler replied to tinkerbell419's topic in NICU
Here in Canada, formula wise we use Similac (Advance for term babes, SSC 24 or 20 for preemies). We fortify our milk with Similar Human Milk Fortifier. Haven't heard of the ones you mentioned.
Baby Wrangler replied to guest769224's topic in NICU
4 people is nuts lol! I'd be elbowing people out of the way to try to reach the baby. Not to mention how some visitors breathe down your neck when you're doing baby up or wave a giant camera around trying to get a shot of the baby. We only allow thre...
First of all, I highly doubt that you did anything that could've contributed to the grade 4 bleed. It's sad that it happened to the baby, but you don't have anything to do with it. That's part and parcel of being a 27 weeker. And if the baby was intu...
