Janetnzrn

Waikato Womens Hospital, Hamilton NZ nicu visitation written policy level 3, 4 bed pods, level 1&2 open room 12 cot spaces 2 visitors per infant, includes parents. no children 3 or under older sibling( 3-10) allowed for 5 minutes unless well beha...

Absolutely not! You are a generalist, ortho and renal in the same room, paeds and copd in the next. All of those are in seperate wards in the big hospital. You are also caring for your neighbors and your community rather than the "pancreatitis in 4B"...

I worki in NICU, for me it's pain management.

Years ago, I worked OB,16 yr old in labour, yelling for pain meds/epidural. Told her I needed to check her dilation and then would give her some meds and call anaesthesia. As soon as I started the exam, and yes, I was gentle, she started swearing and...

In my hospital, major holiday sick calls require a medical certificate, if you can't produce one you will be reprimanded by HR and possibly terminated if a pattern develops. We also have alternate holidays off. I would ask if someone would be willing...

Please keep us updated!

I remember team nursing. I worked a med/surg floor, I had 10-15 patients, the team consisted of 1 RN, 1 LVN, 1 CNA. The CNA did all the personal care and meal passes, the LVN was responsible for the PO and non IV prn meds and could change basic IV fl...

ouch OP! I'm a NICU nurse, have been for quite a while and I do a lot of charge nurse shifts. I have a lot of sympathy for your plight as I know feeders and growers aren't the most thrilling of patients. However, if you use these assignments to hone ...

No you won't! I hated my stint as a CNA. Being an RN is very different and your goal of doing mental health has no bearing on your ability to feed or toilet someone. Don't give yourself the "guilts" for not enjoying doing personal cares. I work in NI...

Sterile line changes for our CVLs and UVCs, evidenced based practice for the last 5 years, dramatic decrease in CONS and other line sepsis organisms. Clean for PIVs but with strict clean hub technique. Level 3 tertiary centre.

I'm a light sleeper and prefer pms, but when I'm rotated to days I set out my breakfast, pack my lunch and put out my uniform the night before. Number one rule, get out of bed right away, no snooze alarms, no resting, no delays. Get the kettle on for...

I used to work in a tiny rural hospital doing L&D, my kids were under 5 and at times on the playground I would look around and realise that I had been at the delivery of 75% of the mothers. Lots of them would show me their baby and I'd make appro...

In my unit no one except permanent night shift workers have a set schedule, the rest of us rotate days, pms, and one week of nights a month. The older I get the less able I am at adjusting to the constant change. Tired seems to be my baseline these d...

What do you think ICU is? Let me tell you there are a lot of technical stuff and loads of machines! ICU won't be a good fit. Not sure what sort of nursing would be a good fit as time management and accountability are necessary for every job in nursin...

You've probably had your time shadowing, but the thing that most impresses me is someone thats done some reading on neonates BEFORE they arrive! I really like students that see something and the next day come in and say "I did some reading on xxx" an...

We try to have a team looking after ours sickest or chronic babies, but we struggle with scheduling and continuity as we do 8hr shifts and we roster over all 3 shifts. I look at the literature and wish we could do better.

The biggest negative will be the loss of your adult skills. After 12 years as a NICU nurse, there is no way I would be competent to care for adults.

We check position with every GT feed, but only check residual q4H when the baby is q2 feeding. When the baby gets to q3H feeding, we only check for position and we use pH strips for that. I work in a level 3 NICU.

We will get our ELBW infants out for SSC while on a vent, but not with a UAC. CVL's are ok, We don't have a strict policy for our 23-26 weekers regarding midline head positioning but its generally practiced and encouraged. No prone positioning while ...

All the hospitals I've ever worked in have floated RNs >25years In one hospital we got a $4 increase, another said float or quit, the one I'm working now (NICU), we float to Paeds and Post natal, take full assignments and anywhere else we task. So...

In my country there are no RTs, we are responsible for retaping and suctioning. So unplanned extubation is pretty rare as we are directly responsible for the baby. We also are a really good team, so if there is any concern we get another nurse to hel...

I too was an experienced L&D nurse with lots of adult experience before that. For the first 6 mos in NICU I felt like a new grad, a bit demoralising! I studied a lot at home as my orientation was very basic.

I'm sorry, I too lost a baby around the same gestation. I found work a good place for me to distance myself from the sadness. I was forced to be "on" for my patients and the concentration and busyness of work allowed me some space from my grief. I we...

Poor thing! I would call and ask for an appointment to speak to the dean of your nursing school. Explain in person, if you can, your mistake and your ignorance of what you were given. Ask for a retest. You may still not be admitted, but if you don't...

Expat living in NEw Zealand. And so glad I do! American nursing seems to be bad.