Today's nurse is a royal BI*CH!

Sorry, this is a longgggg one!So my day at the nicu started off very bad and continued to take a downhill slide the rest of the day. UGH!I walked into the nicu today and Ian was awake. It was so cute... i started talking to him and said "well what are you doing awake little man, you aren't ever awake" and reached in to touch him...

NURSE: You better put your gloves on!!
ME: What? We've been doing this for 3 1/2 months and never had to wear gloves with him. Noone's been concerned so far.
NURSE: Wellll, he is infectious! You can't touch him without gloves!

At this point i'm trying to figure out why there is such an abrupt change and a tacky nurse... so i say

ME: Is JHACO (the people who investigate hospitals) here or something?
NURSE: "well yes actually, they could walk in here at any minute today"

So i sit down and i steam... I'm so ticked off that i can't think of how i'm going to tell this lady that I'm not going to wear gloves with my son and let him never feel my skin , nor me his! So i stood back up, walked to his bed and said....

ME: Just for the record, i'm not going to wear gloves with MY son. There's no reason for me to start wearing gloves now, when he's had MRSA for 3 months. Half of your staff doesn't even wear them and i'm not going to make things all proper just because you guys are expecting an inspection! If you would like for me to speak with your DON, i'd be more than happy to.

NURSE: FINE! ... She then storms out of the room and gets on her phone.

She comes back in and tries to lay a guilt trip on me saying "Did noone explain to you guys about this infection? Do you not know how it is spread?" (Told her i was a nurse, i knew all about it) "Well exactly, you are a nurse, i would think you'd care enough for your own patients to wear gloves and not take it to them!"

Next thing i know, an infection control nurse for the hospital comes in to explain MRSA to me and their policies. I repeat to her that the staff doesn't always wear gowns and gloves..why should i with my own child. He will have this for the rest of his life and what? do tehy think i'll wear gloves for the rest of his life? I also explained to her i knew all about it and worked in healthcare and was most likely a carrier myself (most nurses/dr's are). The infection control nurse agreed that parents do NOT need to wear gloves...that the baby needs to feel it's parent's touch. She did ask that we wear gowns to keep from spreading it if it got onto our clothing (and wash hands)... to other areas of the hospital. (NO PROBLEM HERE!) I explained i have no problems wearing a gown..that we'd been wearing them every time, but the staff stopped wearing them, so I figured why should i? He's MY kid! She said she understood and would be taking this to the DON, Physician, and Administrator of the hospital. She also asked that I stop others and make them gown up, glove up, etc and call her if needed to fix the situation. I explained to her that THAT is a full time job that i was not going to be doing, they can train their own stafff!

Next thing i know the nurse comes in all pissed off cuz she has now been informed that i don't have to wear gloves and agreed to gown up.. and from now on, she has to wear a gown at ALL times when she is in the room LOL..... She is ticked off and complaining that it's too hot to wear that gown all day! (i'm just cracking up inside) She got herself into this predicament!

The rest of the day she is such a *****! Every time i go near Ian or talk to him she glares at me... He starts to desat almost every time (must be getting sick cuz this is unusual for him). She makes me feel as if i'm doing something TO him to cause his desats. I felt so unwelcome and like i should not even be going near this baby... who happened to be my baby.. but she made me feel so aweful.

After he was doing good for awhile, i started to clip his nails. She said "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?"... i explained i was clipping his nails and she said "HE DOESN'T LIKE THAT!" (how the heck would she know, she's never taken care of him!)... I see he's at 89(sat) and just gave up and said "maybe tomorrow buddy". Then she pops off sarcastically "i'd wait til he's not sick!"I left... i just was so stressed out i was about to cry.

I came back as she was leaving shift (complaining about me of course but who cares). After she left i told the night nurse (a sweetheart) ... I HATE THAT NURSE, SHE'S A B****!"... and she makes a face as the nurse walks right in from behind me LOL..oops lol.

So, in his Chart is written several times he desatted...with reason down listed "MOM".... WTH? She also charted that she instructed mother to wear gloves with the infant and mother refused so she reported it to chg nurse and infection control nurse.

I will be going to the DON tomorrow and informing them that she is never to work with my son again!

It is the worst feeling in the world to feel like you shouldn't talk to or touch your own child... Like you are unwelcome and should leave immediately.

Let's end this on a good note though:

Ian has lower settings on the vent (25bpm, peep 6, pc 14, ps 12, and down to 25% oxygen!!)

His incision is covered and not draining at all. The surgeon believes now that it was an abcess that is resolved. Says he can't know for certain but that if it isn't, he will get pretty sick and they will know then. I figure it's all good though! His abdomen is still very round but Dr. S says that's from his liver. (continually damaged by the tpn). He says for now they will try to wean him from the vent, wean his pain meds, then work on starting low feeds. I asked "if he gets off the vent and starts feeds and accepts them okay, how much longer before he can come home, an estimate"... he says he has no idea... at least a month, maybe 2, maybe 3...just doesn't really know.

The eye dr saw Ian today and said his eyes are getting better and that the ROP is regressing!

I did get to hold him up in the air while the night nurse changed his bed and he just kept looking around while he was in mid air hehe

I'm sure tomorrow will be a better day! One can always hope!