Sunday, January 15, 2012

Where I work....




I work in a Newborn Nursery at the major hospital in my area. I love working with babies. In my nursery, I get any babies that may be having issues, either due to their mother's health, or just having difficulty transitioning to life outside the womb.

Usually, our babies have very little serious problems. That's what the NICU is for. These particular babies had newborn jaundice, which is common. Lights for a day or two, no big deal. However, every once in a while the situation can get serious.

There is nothing scarier than when a baby goes bad on you. When a baby may seem perfectly healthy and then decide it doesn't want to breathe anymore. It is time like those when you are so grateful for your training. When your natural instinct to panic, panic, panic is overridden by the training, and you do what needs to be done to save that life.

As a nurse, you rely so much on your gut feelings. You know that something is wrong, and you have to be the advocate for your patient to make sure they are getting the care they need. Working in university setting with inexperienced physicians on duty, you have to advocate even harder, because those doctors are learning from you. As an experienced nurse, you have witnessed and experienced so much more than an intern or resident has. You are their leaders. While you can't tell them what to do, you can definitely suggest things that will guide them in the right direction of treatment.

This weekend was eventful, to say the least. But I am grateful that I was there to care for that patient, save them, and make sure they got the care that they needed.

W. :)

4 comments:

  1. what a nice post, I'm so glad we have nurses to watch and take care of those babies. I love to work with children but in a very different area (school). I bet your are such a blessing for those little ones. =)

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  2. Glad there are people like you who can help those sweet babies.

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