TurboNurse

I survived my first day in the NICU.  I took on a full assignment on my first day which is 2 little kiddos.

It all started out great.  I learned a lot and still have a TON to learn but I'll get there someday.

So about 2 hours into the shift my preceptor goes on break and I hang out to chart my assessments.  Maybe 5 minutes after she steps off the floor for her break, a code alarm goes off.  Not on either of our babies, thank goodness.  It still really scared me a lot.  Luckily it was a false alarm and the nurse who called it had it under control before I even got to the room she was in (it was that fast).  It still really freaked me out though.  That is my biggest fear, a code and not knowing what to do.  Luckily my preceptor really eased some of my fears by telling me what I already know.  When a code happens, since I'm the new kid on the block, people aren't going to expect me to know what to do.  Then we went over bagging and she said that would be a good job for me to do if it comes up as well as being a recorder (not both at the same time though!).

Now that I was really awake after that, the day went pretty good.  I felt like I did pretty OK with these two considering I have never taken care of a baby on TPN and on high flow oxygen.

One thing that kept coming up in the morning is that I forgot to weigh the diapers!  I did it twice before it finally stuck in my mind.  I also kept forgeting to put the cotton balls in the diaper.  That is how we get a urine sample to do a urinalysis which is done once a shift.  I kept laughing at myself for forgetting to do that.  Hopefully now I have it down as routine.

I got to give report as well.  I feel like I totally fell on my face on that one but I made it through and learned how it all goes down.

All in all I'd say it was a very successful day.