The Beginning of Life In NICU

The Beginning of Life In NICU

• My Responsibilities: none
• New Knowledge: I learned about how varied life in the NICU is for the nurses, and I also learned about baby incubators.
• Best Thing: The best thing was seeing the babies when I first came into the NICU, they're adorable! 
• Worst Thing: Seeing a baby that was sick and who's mother couldn't see him because she couldn't afford to stay in the hospital.
• Overall: Fair

• When I came to the NICU, the nurses were doing all of their charting. Because of this, I saw them use the computer to do the charting and order medication. I also saw the incubators and learned that they are used to keep the babies at a stable temperature.
• The only diagnostic procedure that I saw was a head to toe assessment of a baby. The baby was crying a lot and wasn't getting enough oxygen, so the nurse checked the baby's entire body and realized that the oxygen tube that the baby had been using had slipped off.
• One therapeutic procedure was that the nurses give the babies medication (but I didn't get to see this, it was just talked about). I was able to see a baby interact with its mother, and that calmed the baby down. I was also able to see the babies begin to eat, which calmed them down a lot and put them back to sleep.
• No diseases or disorders observed.
• Communicable: an infection that can be passed on from one person to another
• Congenital: a condition present at birth
• Prognosis: the likely course of a disease or ailment

1. The NICU is a very secure area in the hospital, and in order to enter it, I had to verify my identity   as a student twice. Once I actually entered the area, it was very quiet and the lights were dim so that the babies could sleep peacefully. The nurses were nice, but they were also very strict and productive. All of the babies were in small, isolated chambers to keep them warm (like incubators). The babies vital signs were being monitored at all times, and the staff used computers to do all of their charting. 
2. The nurses worked as a team and coordinated their efforts. They communicated with each other very well and each nurse always knew what the other was doing. If the babies seemed to be in distress, the nurse would assess the problem by checking their vitals, checking when they ate, and doing a full body assessment, then they determined whether they should administer medication. Many times babies go to the NICU because they were born prematurely and are too small, so if the nurses determine that the baby is too small during the full body assessment, they order a medication that help's the babies put on weight. 
3. I learned that babies are kept in little incubators if they are born prematurely. The incubators keep the babies at a stable temperature and they block the light so that the babies can get restful sleep. I also learned that the nurses are in charge of tracking the mother's down if they are no longer at the hospital and getting their consent for everything that the nurses do for the baby (I assumed a social worker or administrator would've done this). I also noticed that the nurses were very willing to answer my questions (which can't be said for all nurses), and I wonder if that was because they are always educating new moms.
4. The NICU was a very nice and peaceful place; the babies were adorable and there wasn't too much stress (at least not the day I went). In addition to this, the nurses were kind and very productive. However, I prefer working in a more hectic setting with patients who are in critical condition. Although my experience in the NICU was very relaxed (in terms of the condition of the babies), I was told that there is a lot of variety in the NICU, because the patients (babies) are admitted for a multitude of different reasons (being premature, having infections, etc.). I do not want to work in the NICU for the rest of my life, and I wasn't able to help with anything or observe sick babies (I only saw preemies), but overall it was a good experience.