A Week at Work Worthy of a Blog Post

What makes a good week at work in the NICU for the Dietitian you may ask? Well, I'll tell ya...

1) The Doctor making reference to the chart note you wrote the day before during rounds in front of the entire interdisciplinary team and then making your recommended changes!! My fellow RDs will understand the magnitude of this. I nearly fell off my chair in shock hearing that she read my note and couldn't wipe that dorky grin off my face for the rest of the day. I officially feel cool. (You usually have to tell the Dr. to his/her face what your recommendations are and why, if you wait for them to read your note then you'll be waiting quite a long time to see your changes made.)

2) Helping a nurse measure a precious 32 cm long baby who weighs a little over a pound. Amazing experience. (Dietitians don't usually get to do hands on work with the babies so this was a new and fun experience for me.)

3) Being told by the doctor when catching something that should have been checked and adjusted for for the optimal nutritional care of the infant for her age/condition, "that's a good idea, I'm glad you thought of that!" Yessss

4) Our unit making it into the news: Video Courtesy of KSL.com

4) Getting off on time everyday and slipping in that after work nap. :)

5) Yummy free lunch, eating/catching up on life with my RD friends, a gift and free ice cream for Employee Appreciation week!

I'm sure there is more than I'm missing but overall a good week! And let's be honest, much better than my week last week where I so ingeniously explained to the doctor that the difference with this certain formula that one of our babies went on is that it is Lactose free, so basically has a different protein in it and easier for some babies to digest. Protein?!? Really Mary, MS, RD, CD?? Lactose=sugar, Whey/Casein=protein. You learn that in Nutrition 100. How embarrassing. Hahaha gotta love my Mary moments, especially at work. :-P