LRN_RN

If you have any Phase I Research facilities near you, if can be an easy way to get your foot in the door. The pay will be less, but the stress is considerably better!

We are a level III NICU. When we fortify, there is a greater chance for breakdown in the diaper area. What products does your NICU use to to combat this? We use a barrier cream called ILEX, but it doesn't always cut it. I'd love to hear what you do. ...

The Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center in Hershey, PA has a new grad program and hires NICU nurses into the residency. I was always so jealous of those RNs who were new and got to go into a residency. I felt like they learned so much and wer...

I'm in a Meditech Hospital based in the West, but came from an EPIC hospital. I got my foot in the door by becoming instrumental in a build for a new charting system in my NICU (ISOPRIME). This lead me to being able to brake into the Meditech side. I...

We don't have a policy, but I change always with baths (ours are Q3 or PRN) and if I see visibly soiled linen. Or if parents are STS I'll do a quick change. I also like my kids to look matching and clean, so sometimes I'm obsessive and will just chan...

I've worked level IV and am currently in a Level III. It's the perfect place. We get the occasional vent, body cooling, or critical 24-28 weeker, but honestly most of our kids are CPAP, NCPAP, BCPAP, High Flow PIV or UAC then feeder growers or NAS i...

We do something for our parents at birth and then every holiday that they are with us. Is there a way to upload photos onto this site. I can send a small collection of some of the things we have done. They typically all involve hand or foot prints, b...

WOW. Our unit has a giraffe for every bed space (26) and every infant regardless of gestation and/or acuity is admitted into one, then move to open crib as fluids are DC'd and age permits. I'd love to see a bedbath done with the top down (our older k...

This is my reality as well. I work in a Level III NICU were the majority of vent, cooling, 30 weeks and under pt are given ONLY to experienced nurses (5+ years). I had to leave my unit for a level IV to get any experience. Then upon returning I was a...

Go CHOP! You can't go wrong with either unit there. I hope I can get in at CHOP sometime in my adulthood. What a great opportunity!

I've never heard of this one, but I started a diaper rash thread a few weeks ago. We use hair blow dryers on low heat to dry the diaper area.

I forgot we also employ a hair dryer to completely dry bums that are raw and bleeding. Thank all! Fantastic feedback.

Reading this scares the crap out of me. I just accepted an offer at a different NICU across the country. My NICU is so amazing! Team work and comradeship to the max. I've agonized over the decision. The schooling offer and the chance to see and do m...

Hello all. Just off after an extra shift where we had a fetal demise. I'm part of our NICUs bereavement committee and so was there to assist with prints etc. Mom is 20 yrs old, single and Type 1 diabetic 35 week gestation . She came in on her own th...

I love all of our male NICU nurses. I'm very introvert. I almost save myself up for the 12 hr shifts so I can give my self to my patients and their families. I don't have time or the desire to get caught up in the woman gossip, chatter, drama. I come...

Beware the Mormon underwear. I had just been with a mom who'd finished breastfeeding. She'd come in in a white shirt, but was also wearing the typical Mormon underwear under her clothing, which looks just like a white T (for the most part). I didn't ...

Our unit has a strict 2 person at the bedside rule. (Sometimes 4 in the case of multiples.) They can pick up to 4 visitors to be placed on their visitor list. Those are the only visitors allowed throughout their NICU stay. Our NEOs are very serious a...

My question is how do you feed 4 babies on a 3 hr schedule and have time to chart a darn thing? Our unit only allows 3/1 ratio. I'm moving to a new unit soon and I'm scared to death that it might mean a huge workload increase. Between baths, cares, b...

Very cool!

I'm currently working in a small 25 bed Level III unit. We get 24weeks and older. Not many vents and even fewer body cooling kids. We typically run a census of about 12-14. (Right now we have 12 pts and 4 RNs) We often get called-off and have a few r...

This whole thread made me smile. Just today (the day after stretch of 4 night shifts in a row) I was telling my own kids (11 & 13), whom I call my "beans", a reference to a favorite children's book we love by Rold Dahl where all people are called...

I'm in Utah. Our Neo's use lactobacillus if we have a neonate on antibiotics. Our order is usually for 1/2 a cap mixed in roughly 2-3ml EBM.