Mac Lesnick - 2

Back to Peds! Yay!!

     Today I spent my day in Rainbow 5, the General Pediatric Medical-Surgical division. I worked in the Tracheostomy/Ventilator unit, which holds any baby or adolescent that requires help with their breathing. This floor, although sometimes holding patients with fatal issues, tends to be a cheerful one. While one of the rooms held an almost completely unresponsive girl whose parents were being prepared for end-of-life circumstances, other rooms were filled with small children becoming healthier every day. The healthier children would ride around in little tike cars and say hi as they drove by the staff. Tara, the nurse I shadowed, and I spent most of our time taking care of one of the sicker babies who was prematurely born, and is now 6 months old. A baby's lungs are considered developed at about 37 weeks, so when a preemie is born around 28-30 weeks, their lungs and many other vital organs are not fully developed yet. For almost all of these babies, some type of intubation is required. A couple hours after I arrived in the unit, Tara told me she needed to clean this baby's tracheostomy tube (trach). Once we put on our gowns, gloves, and masks, we walked into the room to see a small baby who looked to be about 2 months old, not 6. Then, another nurse came in to assist Tara. They stood on either side of the baby's bed as the other nurse held the tubing in place, Tara removed the straps around the baby's tiny neck. Then she cleaned around the trach, carful not to move it. This baby also has a condition that doesn't allow him to breathe out of his nose or mouth, which was another reason for putting in the trach in the first place. So during this entire procedure, the baby appeared to be crying, but no noise was coming out because no air was traveling up to his vocal chords and mouth. My heart ached for this tiny baby who was unable to even vocally express that he was unhappy. Once Tara had finished cleaning his neck, they re-strapped the tube on his neck and swaddled him up in a blanket. Tara asked me to sit with the baby and rock him to sleep. Although it was very sad seeing these very sick and even failing children, I loved being there and helping them get better. I am definitely looking forward to returning to pediatrics later in the week!