Doc?

So - I've been in NICU this week. . .we've got 47 of the tinest little babies you've ever seen! One of the coolest parts about being on the NICU team is that we get to go to deliveries and assess the newborns. There is a cool little phone (I call it the "bat phone") that rings when the baby is almost here & then the delivery team (consisting of 1 NICU nurse, 1 respiratory therapist & 1 doctor) runs into action.

Fastforward to this afternoon - all the residents are out in their various clinics which leaves me with the 1 NICU doctor. She was in the midst of doing a procedure when the "bat phone" rang. She says, "Larissa, why don't you go with the team and tell them I'll be there ASAP." I ran over, grabbed a gown & we got into the delivery room right as the baby was born. I steeped right up and helped clean her off as the other two were suctioning. . .then the 1 minute buzzer when off and the nurse looks at me and asks "whats the APGAR?" Ummm. . .APGAR, APGAR, APGAR. . .what the heck is the APGAR - respirations/color/tone/HR/reflexes - how many points foor each. . .ugh. . .ugh. . . I came to when I heard my own shaky voice say "7" the nurse looked at my funny, then did her own calculation & shook her head to affirm my assessment.

About that time the L&D nurse asked us for our names "Jane Doe, R.N" said the nurse "Larissa Adkins, MSIII" I said - and then nurse Doe laughed. . ."I'm so sorry - I thought you were one of the residents." Two minutes later the NICU doctor ran into the room - Nurse Doe said, "no problems. . .your medical student & I can handle it." The rest of the assessment went great - I even got to fill out the consult sheet - but I was a little nervous when I had to sign it - that made it official. . .the NICU consult was headed by this lowly 3rd year medical student. . .thankfully NICU nurses are awesome & can handle everything on their own - so there was nothing to worry about.