kristing said:
What OBP said is very trueabout the nurses. They are very very protective of their babies and deserve a lot of respect.
I haven't done my NICU sub-I yet but from my limited experience in the NICU during my peds clerkship and from the advice from my fiance, who is a NICU nurse, I can comment a bit on this.
NICU nurses hate certain things. Some of these things are unavoidable for a busy NICU team, but others are a little bit easier to pay attention to, especially if you are a student with a bit more time and humility than the docs.
-a fussy baby has finally gotten to sleep and the doc comes to examine the kid, waking them up, and leaving the baby fussy and inconsolable...if possible, try to wait when the baby needs to be awakened for their feedings..in our NICU, the feeding times are posted on a sign at the bedside
-try and get the babies back to the condition they were in when you found them...if you unwrap them, wrap them back up...temp regulation is difficult for these kids so do not leave then uncovered if they were covered when you find them
-if you find a dirty diaper, change it...nurses HATE when the resident finds a dirty diaper and looks at the nurse and says "can you change this please?"...this one resident at my school, when he/she finds a dirty diaper, he/she just leaves the diaper open for the nurse to find it upon returning...it
is like this resident thinks he/she is doing the nurse a favor by making it easier for the nurse to find the poop
-when i was on my peds clerkship, i would offer to feed the babies if i had time...it was a good experience for me to learn how to feed, observe the baby's coordination with their suck and swallow, and i thought it was fun to have a little bonding with my patient, especially if it is a baby who doesn't get a lot of love because their parents do not come to visit...plus nurses love the break from the monotony of feeding the babies over and over
If you keep these things in mind, the nurses will love you, and they will be more likely to teach you things from their wealth of knowledge. Plus, they tend to be pretty friendly with the residents and probably will comment on your behavior. I have had attendings (not in peds) who have asked the nurses about students' behavior. They only remember if you're really nice or a jerk.