Hello,
One of the issues I missed out on over the last couple of weeks was
access to the NICU. Last week, during Rachel's surgery, we had the
unique opportunity to see first hand how 2 different NICU's are run.
Our girls were born and are being cared for at St. Peter's hospital in
Albany, NY, but, for bureaucratic reasons, Rachel's surgery could not be
performed there (even though the same surgeon does other procedures
there). She had to be transported 1 mile down the road to Albany Medical
Center.
(side note - we believe the move contributed to the addalectisys (sp?)
which prevented her from having surgery the first time).
At both hospitals we were allowed 24 hour access, except for nursing
shift changes, doctor's rounds, or specific procedures on other babies in
close proximity. What surprised us, however, was that at Albany Med.
people came in to the nurseries wearing street clothes, and even their
coats. Nurses stored their coats and other personal belongings in
cabinets right next to the babies. Don't these "outside world" items
carry germs which could get airborn and in contact with the babies,
expecially those in open air warmers (like Rachel was in the whole week
she spent there)? At St. Peters, we put on gowns to cover our street
clothes & they are especially sensitive to coats, since they aren't
washed often and have lots of outside germs, dog hair, etc. (they almost
went balistic one day when an L&D nurse came in to visit Lisa at the end
of her shift wearing her coat).
I'm curious what procedures other NICU's use for assuring clothing-born
germs aren't introduced to the babies. I would put on a space suit every
visit if I thought it would reduce the potential for an illness or
infection. My hands are already raw from all the washing, but every time
I think about it I conclude it's not worth the risk - so raw they'll be
for a while.
Got to go now, more to catch up on later,
John - father of the 3 most beautiful girls I've ever seen -
Lauren, Rachel & Emily