First day back from my "stay-cation":
I volunteer to circulate for the next scheduled c-section. Interesting psychiatric history on the woman. I end up doing recovery/PACU for her and her baby as well. Despite her long history of issues, she was actually a rather nice lady, once I got to know her more.
Lesson learned: put yourself in someone else's shoes, and do not judge a book by it's cover.
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Next up, I receive report on a 24 hr post op c/s momma on magnesium sulfate. She's doing better, and is stable. I take her to the NICU to see her twins for the very first time since the birth.
Lesson learned: emotional needs are very important. Do not just look at the physical aspect.
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I transport the momma of twins to her new postpartum room. Then I transport a momma-to-be to the antepartum unit.
Lesson learned: get your work done, and you will have time at the end of the shift to reap the rewards. Got to go home an hour early.
5 comments:
I admire your lesson about emotional needs- it is an important one! I was a c/s momma on mag sulfate two years ago and not one hospital employee seemed to understand how important it was for me to get to the NICU to see my baby. 30 hours post op (24 on mag) I finally WALKED myself to the elevator, up 4 floors, into the NICU because I was tired of waiting hours for someone to find a wheelchair. It IS important.
Brava to you, AYC!! Sometimes the emotional needs are even more important than the physical ones, simply because they tend to be neglected. Twice the relatively few births I attended as a doula, I had to advocate strongly for mothers to be able to see their babies after cesareans. One had her baby taken to NICU. OB told the mom that she just needed to "get some rest" afterwards, apparently forgetting that her first child had been stillborn. The other situaton was a visually-impaired mother, where the OR staff didn't think it was important to bring the baby over so the mother could see the baby, because, after all, she couldn't "see" her, now could she??? It's been close to 20 years for one and more like 25 for the other and I can still feel my blood pressure rising as I type.
Knowing there are nurses like you out there gives me hope.
I love how you give snippets of your daily activities. It keeps you enthrawled, and wanting to hear more. Love it!!! You do so well and it encourages us future nurses to want to do just as well!! Thank you!
I'm glad you enjoy my posts Future Missy Prissy RN!
Cassie and all. I work as a Postpartum Nurse and we get our Cesarean Birth mother's out of bed exactly 8 hours post op. If the mother has a baby in the NICU I will get them straight into a wheelchair to see their baby. If I do not have time, I make time, or another nurse will help me. It is heartbreaking to watch a mother even have to wait that 8 hours to see her baby. I think about what I would want if I were in that woman's shoes and I would WANT to see my baby. Cassie I am sorry for your experience and if their is a next time I hope things go better. I enjoyed reading this blog and the comments.
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