Day 17 - A day in the life of a NICU nurse

If I asked you to describe a good NICU nurse, what would you say? Someone strong? Someone smart? Someone with great IV skills? A compassionate person? 

Let me let you in on a secret... It's not any of those...

 I can tell you as a new nurse at Brack, when shift change would come around I would get so worried & tense & wondering if I did everything right. What would the oncoming nurse think of me? Am I doing a good job?  Did I screw up this baby & ruin his entire life by lifting his legs too high when I changed his diaper? (Seriously...it happens) So what does that oncoming nurse look at first to judge you?  Your friggin baby's bed!! Is it color coordinated? Is it neat & tidy? Is it tucked right? Are all the lines/wires lined up the right way so that a dozen wires doesn't look messy at all? Is your baby positioned developmentally appropriate? (Ok that's totally mine, but we can get into that later, lol)

For reals people! A veteran NICU nurse will look at your baby's bed for 10 seconds & judge you for the rest of your career based on it!!! You sure as hell better have a nice, clean, tidy (don't forget cute!) bed! Spit up on the sheet?  Oh hell no! Blood from a heelstick 10 hrs ago that keeps fricking bleeding every time the kiddo kicks? Umm, no ma'am. That shit better be clean & in order! 

If you think I'm kidding, just wait! You'll see! We are all crazy OCD & type A personality & my way is the right way kind of nurses! And we will freak out over a nasty, dirty bed... 

I find out I will be getting an admit in the am & what do I do? Well, I collect supplies & make sure all my safety stuff is ready, you know, suction is on & connected, as is oxygen...blah blah

Then I go & do research & find out if it's a boy or girl & what's the name, etc. Then I make my bed all nice & pretty, so that when the family comes in to see what they thought was a normal healthy baby & now isn't in a strange germaphobe environment with all kinds of wires hooked up to said baby...they see a somewhat clean (if possible people!) baby in a cute/pretty bed to take some of the shock out of the whole situation.  It helps them to still see their baby as a baby & helps lessen the blow of the unplanned unhealthy baby. 

Now all this is dependent upon time available before receiving an admit... But you better believe that when I sit down to chart everything, my baby's bed better fricking look cute! This is possible in a slower unit, not always so easy to do in a in a very busy unit.  

What does this have to do with my INH & tb & absence of alcohol? Not really a damn thing... But it's me & what I've been doing during my day 17 of INH therapy.  17 days! Yay! Before you know it I will be on day 35 & then 70 & then... Well you get the picture.  I was worried I would be a mess this far in, I guess my allergy attack has been helpful in distracting me! :) speaking of... Last night was a I-wanna-stick-a-coathanger-in-my-ears&throat-to-scratch-this-shit kind of night. Holy mother of itchiness! Thank the  lord & heavens above for Benadryl!

Today has been better, but the drainage is starting up again, yuck! I will be glad once this pollen gets out of the air. 

I am taking my vitamins & all my meds & drinking a small portion of the amount of water I should be drinking in a day. ;)

I am here & feel pretty darn good! Yay! I had great cheerleaders today...Catherine the great from L&D, and Melissa from NICU. They were great to keep my spirits up today. And Catherine has the most awesome new Eggplant jacket for work...you really have to see it CP peeps! 

So, what is the lesson of today? NICU nurses are a special kind of crazy...and never EVER call a fellow nurse a heifer!! Even in a joke, it's just not cool people.