Nurses on both ends of the spectrum

Bean had some nurses that were just fantastic. Only one caused alarm for Jay and me:

Tuesday, August 19

Bean gets an incompetent nurse

Bean's nurse tonight did not project the aura of competence that his other ones have. In fact, the adjective that comes to mind is "bumbling," like a well-meaning kid who cleans your mirror with sandpaper. No, our kids have not done that. Yet.

Fay and I broke for dinner at 9, and when we came back up Nurse Incompetent was poking about in poor Bean's wrist with a needle trying to put an IV in. After two pokes and much subcutaneous probing, she gave up and called for The IV Team. (Kind of like the A-Team, only, you know, for IVs. Fay has never seen the A-Team. Makes me feel old.) But as the IV team was about to poke him again, G the NP arrived and said, Stop! I could tell he was pissed. "I didn't ask for an IV in him!" What he had done was express regret that the earlier IV had been taken out, in his opinion prematurely, but "you don't put an IV in unless you need to use it. He doesn't need one right now."

Nurses are only human and as NICU mistakes go this was relatively benign, but we are going to request that Nurse Incompetent not be assigned to Isaac again. Fay didn't think it was worth complaining about for tonight's shift but once was more than enough.

(Later, after taking Fay's expressed milk to the fridge, she got out formula to feed him. Fay caught her and reminded her to use the breast milk. This woman just did not bring her A game tonight.)

Perhaps it is trivial, but this nurse also did not roll the diaper down away from his umbilical cord and instead left it covered up.  I changed Bean twice and rolled it down after both times she'd changed him.  Come on!  The diaper absorbs urine- not something you'd want right next to an umbilical cord!!!  It's supposed to be kept clean and dry.  CLEAN and DRY!  Ugh.

On the other hand I'd noticed some exceptional nurses too:

Some Pretty Special People Work in The Newborn Intensive Care Unit

Take for example G, one of the NPs. His son was born premature 24 years ago. From his experience in the hospital and taking care of his son, he decided to become a nurse. So he went back to school and has now been caring for other little people for decades. Not only is he good with little people, but he is great with "big people" too. He says he understands that it can be overwhelming, and to never be afraid to ask questions, even if it's a question you've asked before. He feels it is part of his job to help the parents as well. Really nice guy. The bedside nurses (with just the one exception) have been fantastic as well.

It is so very hard to leave Bean each night, but at least I know there are good people watching over him.

Jay and I made it a point to meet all the nurses that took care of Bean at some point during their shift.  We wanted to be there to hold him often, to see that things were going well, to learn how to manage diabetes for when we would take him home, to clarify his particular care (this did become important later on), and to advocate for him when necessary.