Well, I had my second (and probably last) night of orientation in the nursery tonight. It was much better than the first that was so incredibly busy that my preceptor actually left me for three hours to go help on L&D. I actually had to punt and do my first solo baby-receiving at a C-section with next to no warning and after not having even gone with to one for several months. Thank goodness the resucitation nurse was aware of that and was very supportive - we also pretty much knew it would be a good baby or we would have made another plan.
Tonight was very busy and I did have tears in my eyes at one point due to frustration with feeling so overwhelmed, but I learned alot and now feel competent to at least be in the nursery. And most importantly, I know who my resources are if I start sinking!
I went to a section again tonight and my preceptor just watched me and reminded me of a few things. I do feel scared, but as ready as I'll ever be to go to my next one on my own.
The worst thing about the nursery is you are in charge of all the babies, responsible for baby receiving for c-sections, and you have to figure out the staffing and make room assignments. The last part is really tricky because you not only have to make the assignments fair and safe for your current shift, but they also have to work for the night shift, which has higher pt-nurse ratios. And because of the nature of Labor and Delivery you can have a great plan and have to scrap it all and start over because people deliver who you aren't expecting to, pts that everyone thought would deliver vag end up C-section and if the moon is full you never know what can happen!
You also end up with everyone mad at you sometimes. They don't really see that it is really busy and sucky all over - all they know is I just ruined there night by giving them a fifth patient, or by not giving them any of their same patients back. They may also not understand why I had to make the decisions I did. And I really, really hate when people are unhappy with me. I guess I will have to grow some thicker skin and bring Kleenex, cuz I'm sure I'll be in tears at least once before I am really broken in to the nursery!
The best thing about the nursery... There is no best thing - it just sucks! No, I take that back. As I took the dad and baby back to the nursery from the C-section we stopped at the family lounge for a minute so he could show the baby to the grandma and his teenaged stepchild. They were all crying and so happy that I was totally crying, too! It is really a gift to get to witness these moments in people's lives. I guess that is one good thing about the nursery.
Oooh, thought of one more nice thing. I also had a minute to rock a fussy baby to sleep. As her little body relaxed and she curled up against my chest, I rubbed my cheek on her soft hair. Maybe not the most professional behavior in the world, but c'mon it's pretty hard to resist that silky-fine, sticky-uppy newborn hair!
Well, if you read this blog for homeschooling content I guess this post was disappointing. Prepare for further disappointment as I work a bunch for a while and do more shifts in the nursery - I have a feeling I will be needing to vent here!