Blog
My life in the NICU as a Neonatal Nurse
"As a general rule of NICUs in Victoria, currently any pregnancy that gets to 23 weeks in gestation is considered viable and is given a chance at life. At 23 weeks babies have roughly a 50% chance of survival. The realities of having a baby at 23 weeks will be devastating difficult. No 23 weeker will have an easy ride. If they can survive the first 48 hours their odds increase but there are a million things waiting in the wings to challenge you…IVH (Intraventricular hemorrhage), NEC (Necrotizing enterocolitis), CLD (Chronic Lung Disease), Sepsis. The list goes on.
But the satisfaction, relief and joy of helping these babies make it to ‘the fat farm’ (the back wall where they will leave to go home) is incredible and when these little miracles come to visit after gradating home... makes every bad day worth it.
A standard day in NICU is never standard. That’s what makes it challenging, fun, an adrenaline rush, boring and heartbreaking all at once. Generally, if you are looking after a NICU baby on life support you will have just the one patient for your shift… their life in literally in your hands....
The hardest part of my job is the obvious. Sick and premature babies die. Despite our best efforts and desperately trying everything we can think, of not all babies survive.
The first time I worked with a family whose baby died I had just finished my NICU course. I was still green and nervous about doing or saying the wrong thing."