Week 4: Pass The Mic
Zoey B -
Hi everyone! I can’t wait to share everything I have been up to this past week. The majority of my week was spent doing interviews with numerous families. I spoke to a mom that had twins in the N.I.C.U., a mom that had a son in the N.I.C.U. in 1991, and a mom that had three kids in the N.I.C.U. I also spoke to a man that was born 4 months premature in 1971, a N.I.C.U. nurse that had two kids in the N.I.C.U., and to a Neonatal Nurse Practitioner. All of these interviews have given me so much knowledge, not only of how the N.I.C.U. and its technologies have changed throughout the years, but also how unique and individualized each child’s story is. It has been an honor to be able to hear everyone’s stories. Below are some photos from the interviews.
The rest of my week was spent doing research and summarizing details from my interviews. The interview with the N.I.C.U. nurse led me to research more into incubators and specifically into the Giraffe Omnibed incubator (which is incredible). These beds are now the most up to date incubators used in higher level N.I.C.U.’s for extremely preterm babies, and prioritize the baby’s ability to develop not only physically, but mentally as well. These beds have a multitude of features that allow the baby to be kept in a dim, warm, humid, and quiet place while they are developing.
At my internship, I was able to interview a Neonatal Nurse Practitioner and get more insight about how technology has progressed over the years. I was also observing the RN caring for a full term baby delivered during the night that had a few issues. One issue was his respiratory capacity. He was on CPAP when I arrived in the morning, but fortunately was able to be converted to high-flow Oxygen. I was able to watch this process happening and how the nurses came to the decision to make the switch. He also had an I.V. for nutrition and dextrose 10 (to increase his blood sugar levels) as well as to administer an antibiotic. He was feeding well and will most likely be coming off the I.V. soon. It was a great experience to be able to see how they cared for a full-term baby compared to a pre-term one. Overall, my week was very busy, but incredibly insightful and rewarding.
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