What type of patient

I am not sure which she meant. I do not think she was talking about an edematous baby. I guess I was thinking she meant the LGA babies from moms with gestational diabetes?

PPHN kids are often big and very sick too.

I don't have a favorite kind of baby. I like the variety.

My favorite type of patient to take care of has changed. When I first came into the NICU I loved the high acuity of a micropreemie. I enjoyed taking care of the babies on the high frequency vents and multiple drips. Now however, after taking care of several of those babies and becoming their primary nurse and seeing them throughout the course of their care. I now have developed a love for the more chronic baby...the ones the other nurses tend to shy away from. I am currently the primary nurse to a 10 mos old (5 mos AGA) boy who is trached, vent dependent, and has a GT. His care is further complicated by CF like symptoms yet all the gene studies have come back neg. So...long story to say, your favorite now might not be your favorite tomorrow.

I like most anything ICUish. My favorite is the term PPHN with all the gizmos--NO, oscillator, drips, multiple lines. (Can do without the chest tubes,

though.) They are such a great challenge and can have quite a miraculous turn around. It's great to be there for that!

My favorite type of NICU patient?....It makes no difference as long as they have nice parents..

My favorite type of NICU patient?....It makes no difference as long as they have nice parents..

AMEN!!!

I like most anything ICUish. My favorite is the term PPHN with all the gizmos--NO, oscillator, drips, multiple lines. (Can do without the chest tubes,

though.) They are such a great challenge and can have quite a miraculous turn around. It's great to be there for that!

Ooooh, I love it when the baby "turns the corner" on my shift! Suddenly, the BP is great, the blood gasses are amazing, PaO2 is sky high, and the baby starts peeing like a race horse. Those kids are amazing when they turn around. One day you'll have them on 20 of nitric, oscillator, pavulon, dop/dob, etc. Two days later the baby is extubated and starting feeds. The parents look at you like you're a miracle worker.

Now, I've also had those lovely shifts where a baby "flips" into PPHN on me. SUCKS.

AMEN!!!

So from a NICU nurses perspective, what is the definition of a "nice parent"? Just curious as we will be TTC in the next year, and there is a possibility of another NICU stay.

Shannon

So from a NICU nurses perspective, what is the definition of a "nice parent"? Just curious as we will be TTC in the next year, and there is a possibility of another NICU stay.

Nice basically means NORMAL, at least to me.

It's the parents who criticize everything we do, who "tell" on nurses for doing things they don't like, but are part of the nurses' job, who fight the staff about every little thing, who try and control their baby's treatment without any medical knowledge, who just period don't respect us or acknowledge the fact that we're busting our butts to save their babies.

It's normal to be stressed, anxious, and upset at times when your baby is in the NICU. But it's (usually) not the staff's fault, and the parents who take it out on us are not exactly the nicest people. It's one thing if we did something wrong. But to go crazy on us for something that's not our fault...

If it's a day here and there, especially at the beginning - like a really bad day for the baby - we actually do understand that. In that situation, I wouldn't be the nicest person either, I don't think! But if your baby is doing really well, improving, and you still are being inappropriate with us, then that's a problem.

Sometimes we get parents that question us relentlessly, like they're cross examining us. It's not that they don't understand what is going on with the baby - they just question each and every nurse (even those not taking care of their baby) to either try and get us to contradict each other, or to try and get the answer they want. We feel like we're on trial sometimes.

This could grow into a heated debate, so I'm just going to end there.

So from a NICU nurses perspective, what is the definition of a "nice parent"? Just curious as we will be TTC in the next year, and there is a possibility of another NICU stay.

Shannon

Any parent whose primary concern is their baby is my only real criteria. Them being polite/respectful is a plus. Fortunately most parents fit into that category. Unfortunately there is still a sizable minority that don't and they are very difficult to work with.

I find the manipulative parents a bit of a pain, but they don't really bug me that much anymore. Cross examine me all you like, it isn't like we don't all know what's going on there.

Thanks for the replies re: parents. Gompers, personally I don't see why it would be a debate, I thought what you said was perfectly reasonable! It seems like it would all be common sense and just normal respectful behaviour. I guess it is unfortunate that not all parents are respectful. I had some bad days in the NICU but was always thankful for the expertise of the nurses taking care of my babies.

Shannon