Olivia is doing well. Sleeping mostly. She just received another helping of morphine.
To all hospital-goers: ask about the orders for pain medicine. Sometimes it’s once every 4 hours, but sometimes once every hour. Just ask what the schedule is. It’s the nice way of making sure they’re on the ball.
The shift change happened at 7pm, so I figured the nurses memorized Olivia’s case since she is their only patient tonight. I just took that for granted. Olivia could have been having more pain medicine every hour. I won't miss that again.
2 comments:
You sound like an awsome family. I am holding you in my thoughts. I know what it is like to have a baby in ICU and it's brutal. I think the worst thing is the shift changes. My girl would just get to sleep and Woop! a shift change and they would wake her up. I finally put a sign on the door saying "do not distrub" and got crabby. They didn't like me, but they listened to me and my girl got rest. Remember to go with YOUR instincts as a parent and don't let them take over. God bless and many prayers!
Anon,
Thanks. Yeah, shift change can be noisy, but it has been reasonably controlled so far. I've been fortunate enough to have good nurses so far. Plus, I am in nursing school myself and understand a bit more about what’s going on and the risks with, say, continuing morphine: sluggish intestines, no bowel movements, abdominal pain and distention, and a depressed respiratory system. I asked last night for alternatives to morphine that are longer lasting, so we switched to oxycodone. Much better than morphine as far as its active timeframe and quick peak.
Second, every good nurse knows a cardinal rule of caring for children: you don't have one patient, you have a family of patients. The entire family is who you are caring for, not just the one person in the bed. Discussing with the nurses, showing your interest in the process and in understanding all that goes on really helps with the nurse–patient/family relationship. Communication is much better in those circumstances, as well as a sense of security and that the “right thing is being done.”
People get into nursing because they want to help. If they feel that they are helping and teaching, their ego gets a small boost and their attitude is better. :o)
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