Question for those who use Bilichek Meter?

[breastfeedingRN]

Hey. Just wondering if you use the Bilichek meter to screen for jaundice and if so, I have a question.

We always do ours in a dimly lit room. But, I have heard of nurses from other hospitals say they do it in normal light and have no issues with it. The user manual only says to turn off phototherapy lights if baby currently undergoing phototherapy.

So, what do you do?

[justjenny]

So, what do you do?

Student chiming in......

I am in my OB rotation and we have not been told to dim the lights. We also check 3 times and average the results.

:)

Jenny

ADN Grad Dec 2005

[SmilingBluEyes]

Lights dim or bright, have not noticed a difference. We do it in the nursery just prior to discharge, usually with the lights on.

[breastfeedingRN]

Thanks guys! It just gets to be a pain dimming the lights when everyone else is doing assessments, charting, etc. We do it in the room we do our midnight assessments and weight checks in. I might just call the Bilichek people and ask them.

[USA987, MSN, RN, NP]

Thanks guys! It just gets to be a pain dimming the lights when everyone else is doing assessments, charting, etc. We do it in the room we do our midnight assessments and weight checks in. I might just call the Bilichek people and ask them.

Let us know what you find out!!!

[JenTheRN]

We dim the lights. We are new to Bilichek, and we all watched the video that came with it...video said it works better with dimmed lights. I loooove the Bilichek! It saves the poke of a healstick if you are concerned about jaundice. Of course if the Bilichek gives a high reading the babes get a poke anyway....but its great for screening.