Loni,
I feel very obligated to answer your post as I go through this several times
a year. I work nights for one or two months about 2-3 times a year just for
this reason. When I have a mom who hits the wall at 1am I show her how to put
the baby in bed with her and nurse him to sleep. No one has to move and
everybody gets rest. I tell the mom to continue this at home when she needs
to sleep and is exhausted. Then I tell the nurse how I handled the situation
and hope I have role modeled for them. I tell the nurses we are teaching the
mom coping skills because tomorrow night we won't be with her and she needs to
learn some parenting skills now. So far I have not had any resistance and the
nurses actually seemed pleased they can do something to help the mom. Then we
go through the usual night shift turnover and I have to start over again. I
just hope the nurses that leave take this with them.
Vicki Pena IBCLC ( and still waiting to hear when my RN boards are scheduled
)