waded

Hi! I'm trying to redo our NICU's care manager/primary nurse program, and we've been unsuccessful in the past trying to keep the program consistant. I was wondering if some of you could tell me about how your units do care managers or primary nurses? For example--does every single baby get a primary nurse or just those over a certain gestational age? Is it voluntary or is each baby assigned to a nurse if no one signs up for it? What about if a nurse had the baby for the past 2 days and on her third day the baby's primary nurse is working--who gets the baby? The nurse who's been there the past two days or the primary nurse? (This has actually been a huge problem/complaint amoung our staff. Many feel they should keep their assignment on their third day in a row, regardless of if the primary nurse is working, which of course negates the whole concept of having care managers). Any other information you could share with me would be greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance!