Day 4: Snuggle Some More

I was back with Deb today, who had four healthier babies, only one of whom needed to be in an isolette. They are considered special care babies instead of intensive care babies, even though they are all in the NICU.

The first thing I did when I found Deb was sat down in a big arm chair, got a cute little girl and a bottle handed to me! It took her less than 15 minutes to down 40 mLs of milk, then I sat there and held her for another 45 minutes while she quietly slept away. I wouldn't mind doing that all day, every day! A little while later I got to feed and hold another little girl for a long time until her parents arrived and asked, "So are you her nurse today?"

I have made a lot of progress in accomplishing my first and last goals, and even to some extent my third goal. Like I recounted in my past several blogs, I have learned so much about a lot of the different equipment that is used here, in addition to several of the different drugs and disorders that are commonly used and seen in the NICU. Kelli especially explains everything very thoroughly, and I have learned about a lot of the conditions and disorders in much more depth than I originally thought I would. Being able to see it first-hand helps that knowledge to stick, too.

I have found a lot about a NICU nurse's job that I really like. One of the big things I like is they get to make a lot of decisions on their own, and they aren't under a doctor's finger at every second. Another thing I really like, as opposed to the experience with the midwives, is there are no rigid appointments. However, there is still a lot of interaction with people besides the babies. Most parents come on a daily basis, and the nurses spend quite a bit of time updating and talking to them. One of the things I like the most is that these nurses are directly taking care of the babies, which is something I really want to do. NICU nurses are literally at the baby's bedside all the time and are the main caregivers for the babies.

At lunch today, Dr. Schell, the neonatologist came in to eat with Deb and me, and we had a really interesting conversation about the differences between NICU nurses and nurse practitioners. Dr. Schell asked me about my plans for the future, and I told her that I would like to attend Xavier because they have a four-year nursing program. She highly encouraged me if I start my nursing education that early to continue it and become a nurse practitioner. Nurse practitioners, she told me, not only get paid much better, but they work a lot more like physicians rather than nurses, meaning that they have a lot more decision-making power. However, their lifestyle is very different. At St. V's, the nurse practitioners work one 24-hour shift and one 16-hour shift, whereas the bedside nurses work three 12-hour shifts. The nurse practitioners also aren't with the babies all the time like the bedside nurses are, so that would be a con for me. I really appreciated Dr. Schell taking the time with me to talk me through a lot of the questions I had regarding the differences between several levels of neonatal nursing.