Although I have contemplated on posting this I believe it is time that our story is shared…
Roughly 24 hours after birth our healthy baby boy was taken to the nursery, by the nurse, to have his PKU test done. A heel warmer is used during a PKU test to increase capillary circulation to an infants heel which is where the labs are drawn from for the test. For whatever reason the nurse decided to put hot water in a diaper and wrap it around Dash’s foot and leg with the heel warmer. The water was so hot that it resulted in our newborn baby having 2nd and 3rd degree burns.
After consults with NICU, plastics, wound care, and a burn center our perfectly healthy baby was admitted to the NICU for 6 days. He had an IV, was on morphine, Tylenol, and ibuprofen, and had to have an NG tube. After finally being discharged from the NICU we’ve had multiple follow up appointments with a plastic surgeon and at 13 days old our baby had to have a surgical debridement.
This whole situation should’ve never happened. It all took place because of an ignorant decision made by one nurse. This first time mother and father experience was taken from me and Andrew because of one nurse’s bad decision. The opportunity to breast feed my baby was taken from me because of one nurse’s bad decision. I watched my baby desat and turn blue during a feeding because he was so incoherent from the morphine he needed for pain because of one nurse’s bad decision.
If you work in healthcare I encourage you to remember that you are taking care of someone’s loved one. Although to you it may be just another day at work and another patient, to someone else that is their world, and they are trusting you to provide the utmost care.
We are very thankful that Dash is almost completely healed and, as of now, shouldn’t have any long term effects besides scarring and possibly losing his pinky toenail. Please keep us in your prayers as we continue on this journey.
Credit https://www.facebook.com/kaley.johnson.779
