Blue Baby

Blue Baby

Have you ever saved a babies life? How did it happen? Was it a dramatic birth where the infant ingested meocionium or was it a cardiac post-op infant who threw a clot and you just happened to catch it? My first time of saving a baby's life was no where near as dramatic but just as every bit life saving.

It was a sleepy night in the nursery. I had been floated down from the NICU to admit "well babies" into the hospital: the routine consisted of bathing babies and taking pictures for the family...or so I thought. When I arrived to the Mother Baby Unit I was greeted with "Why are you here" and "Why don't they cancel you.....our nursing aid can do your job." But I smiled and asked where I could put my lunch. The first half of the night was very uneventful. I bathed babies and took their pictures. Hardly stimulating for someone who is use to starting dopamine drips and managing high frequency oscillators. But I did my job, smiling, and telling all the parents that their baby was the cutest I had ever seen, when it happened.

A nurse rushed into the nursery with a infant in a bassinet who was totally blue.

"I think there is something wrong with my baby"

In that moment a sense of calm rushed over me when I picked up the baby and placed her under the warmer. The charge nurse rushed in asking me if I needed anything.

For the first time I was the one with the experience that was looked up to in order to call the shots. With a calm voice I started to call out orders. The nurses around me moved to my commands as we worked together to bring the infant back to life. It was a slight rush to say the least.

Soon doctors were called and the patient was transferred to the NICU. This was the day that I knew I was ready to become a practitioner I was ready for added responsibility to my job. I was ready for higher medical theory concerning the care of the medically fragile infant.

Maybe as nurses we do forget the power of our profession. Perhaps we do look for a doctor for answers. But that night, with that blue infant, I knew I was ready to not be just a nurse but a practitioner