timekiller13
Old Mossy Horns
RSV and flu are running rampant ladies and gentleman.
Fortunately, the flu, while annoying and definitely not any fun for anyone, is generally mild. Outside of a few very old or fragile individuals, we are not seeing many flu admissions. Our flu positive rate was 25% last week in the ER. That’s up from 16% the week prior and 12.8% the week prior to that.
Now, RSV is a different story. Man, are we seeing some sick sick babies. And it’s not just my hospital. EVERYWHERE is getting hammered. We were trying to transfer a 2 month old today, and NO ONE had any pediatric ICU beds in NC. We were calling everywhere. Ended up getting lucky and Mission hospital had a bed open up, we were getting ready to send the kid to Virginia.
We are averaging 2 peds admissions PER SHIFT and 1.5 transfers per shift. That may not sound like much. But looking back at historical data over last 10 years, our worst year ever was less than 1 admission per day. My hospital does not have a peds ICU. We have an awesome NICU, but kids over the age of 30 days cannot go the NICU (something to do with credentialing and insurance I think). So these sick little 1 month-2 yr olds have to be sent out. It’s getting harder and harder to find a place for them. My ER team is amazing. Our docs are great and our nursing staff is getting really comfortable taking care of sick babies. Not something you really want to get good at, but I’m proud of my team. I can remember the days when everyone used to cringe and shy away from sick babies. That’s not the case any longer. Even our new, young nurses have had so much experience with sick kids that they just jump right in.
I hope this passes soon. Gonna be a rough few months.
Fortunately, the flu, while annoying and definitely not any fun for anyone, is generally mild. Outside of a few very old or fragile individuals, we are not seeing many flu admissions. Our flu positive rate was 25% last week in the ER. That’s up from 16% the week prior and 12.8% the week prior to that.
Now, RSV is a different story. Man, are we seeing some sick sick babies. And it’s not just my hospital. EVERYWHERE is getting hammered. We were trying to transfer a 2 month old today, and NO ONE had any pediatric ICU beds in NC. We were calling everywhere. Ended up getting lucky and Mission hospital had a bed open up, we were getting ready to send the kid to Virginia.
We are averaging 2 peds admissions PER SHIFT and 1.5 transfers per shift. That may not sound like much. But looking back at historical data over last 10 years, our worst year ever was less than 1 admission per day. My hospital does not have a peds ICU. We have an awesome NICU, but kids over the age of 30 days cannot go the NICU (something to do with credentialing and insurance I think). So these sick little 1 month-2 yr olds have to be sent out. It’s getting harder and harder to find a place for them. My ER team is amazing. Our docs are great and our nursing staff is getting really comfortable taking care of sick babies. Not something you really want to get good at, but I’m proud of my team. I can remember the days when everyone used to cringe and shy away from sick babies. That’s not the case any longer. Even our new, young nurses have had so much experience with sick kids that they just jump right in.
I hope this passes soon. Gonna be a rough few months.