Hey there! Welcome to this week’s post! This week has been a lot more inactive in comparison to the past couple weeks.
In the NICU this week, it was slightly difficult finding someone or a group for me to observe because it was a very hectic day where there were many families around. To maintain their privacy and to make sure that I wasn’t invading their personal time and space, I decided to shadow CCN (Continued Care Nursing) once again. I watched two babies have baths, get changed, fed, and wrapped up in the blankets. The patients get baths about every three days to ensure that excessive bathing and exposure doesn’t affect their health. Apparently, in the past, premature babies in the NICU used to be given baths on the daily, which isn’t always the best thing to do for some situations where the patient is extremely premature and skin isn't as strong.
One of the patients that day actually stopped breathing momentarily, not because of any heart or lack of oxygen problems, but rather because the baby had a lot of fluid build-up in the lungs and breathing pipes. The alarm for the system went off repeatedly and nurses rushed to the room. It was slightly intense and crowded, so I mainly watched from afar as the physicians, RT's, and nurses handled the situation within a few minutes. They ended up setting up a machine that would regulate the patient’s breathing so that the baby doesn’t have to forcefully attempt to breathe, as it gets tiring for its tiny body. Basically, it controls the breathing for the baby.
Later on, one of the nurses showed me how a Pyxis station works. The Pyxis MedStation system is an automated medication dispensing system. It helps healthcare providers safely and efficiently dispense medications while offering enterprise-ready integration. The nurse was removing morphine to give to a baby whose parent was a person that took drugs while pregnant.
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| An example Pyxis Machine |
Besides that, this week I also conducted and collected responses to a few more interviews, and so far I have about 25. From a quick glance, I can see a few obvious patterns already in the answers and a few interesting differences as well. I’m starting to compile them all together for the results so that I can show different factors such as occupation, age, place of work, or gender to explain why the results of the survey came out in the way that they are.
Anyways, there's only two more weeks are left of the senior project; it’s insane how fast two months have gone by. Thanks for reading the post!
Hi Urmi. Your research is amazing. I have one question for you: Why would they give premature babies morphine if it is such a potent drug if it has fatal effects when assigned in incorrect quantities?
ReplyDeleteHi Ethan, sometimes morphine is needed to stabilize the baby as they are used to drugs in their system from what their mom took. The healthcare personnel are very exact and ensure that only the least amount needed is given to the patients, so there is no room for any negative or fatal effects.
DeleteAlso, does the morphine administered to babies have different quantities than the one given to adults?
ReplyDeleteYes, morphine given to babies is a significantly small amount compared to what is given to adults.
DeleteHey Urmi! It's amazing to see how many new things you're learning and sharing every week! The Pyxis Machine seems very helpful. Is it used to dispense medication during/before surgery or medication for the baby to take on a regular basis, and does it automatically calculate how much medication to give to a baby based on its health? Also, is this type of machine fairly common among modern hospitals, or is it more exclusive? Thank you!
ReplyDeleteHey Esha! Great questions! The Pyxis machine can be used for any medication that a baby could require in the area whether it is to be administered once or daily. It doesn't automatically calculate it, someone refills the machine with the necessary medicine needed in that area for the babies who are staying there. This machine is very common, I'm sure multiple facilities in hospitals everywhere have this machine.
DeleteHi Urmi!
ReplyDeleteIt is great to see how much you have been able to learn and witness even on an "inactive" week. Are all prematurely born babies given baths only every three day or does it depend on how undeveloped the baby is? It must been scary to witness a patient who actually stopped breathing! What could the fluid buildup have been cause by? The Pyxis machine seems to be an incredibly useful piece of equipment. How exactly does the machine know what dosage to administer to a patient? Are there any specific factors it considers? Thank you! Good luck in your final two weeks!
Bhumika K.
Most babies are usually given baths every few days as bathing everyday has proven to be damaging to the skin. I'm not exactly sure what the fluid buildup could've been caused by as I didn't want to ask at the time since everyone was busy attending to the baby, but I theorize that since the baby was a couple months premature, the lungs hadn't developed as they normally should have. The Pyxis machine doesn't know what to give, the nurses operate the machine and select the one they want. Great questions!
DeleteHi Urmi! I hope that the patient who stopped breathing will be okay. I know you have mentioned this before, but is the morphine for the baby given in small increments and then stopped completely? Also, does the Pyxis Machine only give certain types of medication and how does the staff access it? Can't wait to see what next week brings!
ReplyDeleteHey Madeline! Yes, morphine is administered in a way that eventually the baby will not be in need of it. The healthcare personnel can access the Pyxis machine because they have the authority to and can select the specific medicine that they are looking for.
DeleteHey Urmi! So I was wondering if the incident with the baby -- where he stopped breathing -- is a common occurrence? Or is it rare to have this happen?
ReplyDeleteHey Adam! From what I was told by other nurses, usually it doesn't happen as the babies are monitored and watched closely. In this situation, the nurses knew that the baby was having trouble breathing properly so they had previously called the physician and RT's and in that process, the baby's breathing rate suddenly lowered.
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ReplyDeleteHi Urmi! It's nice to see that your senior research project is wrapping up neatly and that you are already seeing patterns in the surveys. After being in the NICU for so long, would you still consider becoming a neonatologist?
ReplyDeleteThanks Nichole! I'm not sure about becoming a neonatologist, but I'm definitely more interested in pediatrics now and might pursue something within that field.
DeleteHello Urmi!! It is so cool to read about your experience! I hope the baby who stopped breathing will be okay! Are there any factors possibly in pregnancy that can lead to this? Or are there any things you can do to prevent this?
ReplyDeleteThanks Siena! I'm not sure if there any factors during pregnancy that could have led to that, but I do know that early birth could sometimes mean that the baby's lungs are underdeveloped, which could have definitely influenced that situation.
DeleteHi Urmi! Would you say your interest in pediatrics has changed since the beginning of the project? A lot of the procedures you see can be intimidating.
ReplyDeleteHey Liam! That's true, there's some situations and procedures I saw that I knew about but then there were others that definitely surprised me. A common misconception about pediatrics, specifically in the NICU, is that nurses have an easier job and get to constantly hold and play with babies. It's not exactly like that and it's interesting how much a person doesn't know until they are in that situation. So I'd say that my interest has definitely increased since I started this project.
DeleteHey Urmi, when the baby stopped breathing, it must have been pretty stressful. Do you know how big the risk of the baby dying was?
ReplyDeleteHey Luke! It was intense for a few minutes, but judging by how quickly the physicians and nurses handled the situation, I don't think that the risk was very high.
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