I now have a different perspective on my job as a neonatal ICU nurse. My good friend Kim had a baby born yesterday that was sick and transferred to a NICU. As I listened to her and her husband try to convey what was going on, I realized just how scary and unfamiliar a medical crisis is, even to educated people. Most of the families I deal with are either very young or very uneducated so I expect them to be pretty clueless. But listening to her, it gave me a whole new perspective on how a parent perceives the information provided to her by the nurses taking care of her baby. So many things are routine to me … an intubated baby, IVs, ventilators, tests etc that I often think of my patients as “sick” and “not really sick” when in their parents eyes they are ALL sick. I hope that I am compassionate and understanding when dealing with my patients’ parents and most importantly, I hope I convey information to them in a way that makes sense and is reassuring.
As for little Bodie – it sounds like he’ll be alright after a week of special care. I’ll certainly be sending all my thoughts his way.
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