October 5, 2007

The dreams of nurses

This week we had a staff meeting and I was a good employee and actually went. As usual, it was a waste of my time. We spent the majority of the time talking about what we wanted for our new unit. Plan is that we will be in a new building by 2011. Some things have already be decided. We are going to be a unit with LDRP's, and will have some "plain" rooms for antepartum, post-op, etc. We will still have 2 OR's for an estimated 43% c-section rate (which is the current rate for the month of Sept.) We'll have a level 2 plus nursery with 6 beds, and we'll be able to care for babies that are on vents for short term. Right now we cant care for any babe on a vent. There will be room for only 12 babies in the healthy nursery. In this community, the moms in general expect they'll be able to send their babies to the nursery to sleep between feedings, or be fed all night my us. They estimate we'll be doing 2400 deliveries a year from our current 1600 or so this past year. Major problems I see: The nursery is too small. We are a level 2 now and at times we have 5 sick babies. If we can care for babies on vents and more premature babes, where are we going to put them? What about the healthy babes? Some moms are too sick to have their baby in the room, and although it goes against the whole dyad nursing thing, a lot of them will want their baby in the nursery to sleep. Where will we put the babies until the expectation of putting babies in the nursery for the night ceases. The layout worries me, too. They plan on doing a triangle shaped unit with the OR's at the back. Ok, say we have a cord prolapse in the room by the entrance. We'll have to go down the hallway, around a corner and down a long hallway to get to the OR. All while keeping our hand pushing up on the baby's head to keep it off the cord, maintaining privacy and trying not to run over anyone int eh hall. These are the things I worry about. A lot of people were more concerned about ammenities. They basically want the patient rooms to be like a 5-star hotel. I admit, it would be nice, but will we have the staff to take care of the patients? We do need bigger, better looking rooms, internet connections, etc. , because the rooms now are small, ugly, don't have internet connections and the hallways have carpet (which is nasty). All I want is up-to-date equipment that works, and competant staff. All the foo-foo stuff doesn't matter. And I'm talking from not only a nurses point of view, but a patient point of view. I dont' need a fridge, fancy sheets, or a wide screen tv. Just give me a decent bed with clean linen, a clean working bathroom and diapers, wipes and a bed for my baby, and nurses, techs who can help me. Is this what other units are like? I've been shelter and have only seen 2 L&D units, ever, so maybe this is how things are, which isn't bad, but just not necessary. We'll see what we get in 2011.

3 comments:

Jen, Rich & Joey said...

Glad to see you're sailing though this pregnancy fairly uneventful. BTW, those were some cute belly pics. I never got up the courage to post any pics of my belly, but commend those that do.

I'm with you as a patient, I'd want a decent bed, clean sheets simple baby supplies and helpful nurses & techs. All the other stuff is unnecessary. My opinion, I don't care for all the extras since I'm not planning on staying long in there anyways. Especially internet connections, PLEASE. I realize family & friends want pics, but really the time in the hosp. should be spent asleep or with the baby.

MentalMom said...

I've had 7 babies in 7 hospitals over the last 14 years, in 5 states and worked in more that I did NOT have a baby in myself.
I've done everything from inner-city NOT froo-froo to uber suburban froo-froo and everything in between.
My priorities? supportive, respectful, mother baby friendly staff
technically competent and well equipped in case of emergency
clean
quiet (??)
after that it's all gravy.
We have a stunning, 5 star type hospital here. Hardwood floors, all the amenities one would get at the Hilton. Sticker? They are so NOT mother/baby friendly. Mandatory 3 hr separation after birth for starters. Their VBAC rate is also abysmal. So what do I do. I go to the hospital with the highest VBAC rate which also happens to be the oldest hospital in town and in pretty rough shape. It's clean but far from pretty. The L&D and PP nurses are phenom, the nursery nurses are mostly horrid though. I am praying by the time I deliver again they switch to mother/baby nursing. The nursery is sad as there are so many drug addicted babies and even babies who are wards of the state.

If I can an aesthetically pleasing facility that suits my primary needs then great but I'll take the well trained, personable staff over pretty wall paper and nice furniture anyday

Mother Jones RN said...

I think patients will forgo the froo-froo rooms in exchange for superb nursing care. I wish hospital administrators would “get it,” and invest their money where it does the most good. By the way, I really like your blog and I'll be back.

MJ