NICU (neonate intensive care unit)

Hmmm... anyone heard of NICU before...? it is a place where very very sick babies are put into after delivery or a few days after delivery. A terrifiying story happened when i was on call at NICU a few days back.


As usual, we need to on call in the wards 5 days/once so today it was me and my partner on call. I went to NICU as usual, and today my partner was not around, i followed the doctor for ward rounds and she asked me to palpate the anterior fontanelle of one baby and comment about it.. I was also told to check the pupils of this baby. So i followed her instruction and did what i was told. Then, i followed the doctor to other babies and so on until noon where i went back for lunch.



At night, we need to on call as well, so i went to NICU but this time my partner is around. So, me and my partner just looked around in the ward. Suddenly, the doctor working there told us that there is a case of Neonatal Jaundice needing Exchange transfusion (taking the baby's blood out and replacing it with another because of the high level of bilirubin in blood). So we helped the doctor to do the task and finished at around 2.30 am.. woo, what a day..went back played a match of DOTA and slept.



The next day, one of my friend on call text me in MSN and say that he was very boring in NICU. He said that all he do there was watching a dead baby and whole family crying. I was worried whether the baby undergoing exchange transfusion died? ...he told me that the baby that i palpated and looked into the pupils died instead. Oh is it my fault... i felt that it was probably my fault so i told him the story about yesterday's on call.. He said that the baby died of SEPSIS (due to systemic infection). It scared me even more, am i the one introducing the infection? he also told me that the doctor yesterday was looking for me and she seems angry.



So, my mind went troubled... can a simple palpation and pupil inspection cause this sepsis..? i felt some difficulties in doing the pupils inspection yesterday, so i feared that i might have pressed the eyelid to hard or so...i quickly consulted a lot and ALOT of people (colleague, friends, seniors,) and asked them about this situation. I was afraid of being kicked out or even sent to jail for accidental death...

A few days later, i got a class with the doctor for a Seminar... i went to class as usual feeling guilty for the incident. During the class, nothing unusual happened. The doctor didnt talk to me, so i was puzzled... I think im being played a fool...damn, my friend lied... actually the cause of death has nothing to do with me..just that, i was unlucky to be the last guy to touch the baby..=(..

Finally it has settled. Now i can go to Penang happily for convocation of my senior.