Nurse Kelly’s Notes

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https://www.etsy.com/shop/NurseKellysNotes, https://nursekellysnotes.net/

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Alexandria, VA
Nurse Kelly’s Notes

Hi! I’m Nurse Kelly and I hope you grow to love NICU and perinatal nursing as much as I do!

09/25/2025

This is part one in a two part series about retinopathy of prematurity, also known as ROP! Today’s post is a quick introduction to the definition and risk factors for ROP.

ROP describes the abnormal blood vessel growth in the eyes due to prematurity. If untreated or undetected, ROO can progress and lead to retinal detachment, causing blindness.

Risk factors for ROP include:
🔵 History of blood transfusion
🔵 Intraventricular hemorrhage
🔵 Patent ductus arteriosus
🔵 Prematurity
🔵 Respiratory Risk Factors: Altered CO2 levels, history of oxygen administration or ventilator support, surfactant therapy
🔵 Sepsis
🔵 Very Low Birthweight (birthweight < 1.5 kg)

Stay tuned for Saturday’s discussion of part 2, where we’ll dive into the stages, phases, and treatment of ROP!

09/12/2025

Today marks the start of Neonatal Nurses Week, and I want to celebrate you with a giveaway!

ONE lucky winner will receive:
✨NICU Nursing Badge Card Pack
🤍 Extremely Low Birthweight Pocket Guide
⭐️ The print and e-book versions of the Neonatal Intensive Care Nursing Bundle!

To enter…
1. Follow me on Instagram
2. Like this post

To earn bonus entries: share this post to your stories AND/OR tag 1 friend in the comments of this post!

Contest closes on 9/17 at 8 AM Eastern time. Participants must be 18 years of age or older at the time of entry. Contest is only open to participants in the USA and Canada.

09/04/2025

Ready for day TWO of exhibits at the conference in Arlington, VA! I’ll be exhibiting with today from 10:15 AM - 11:15 AM, 12:15 - 1:45 PM, and 2:45 PM - 3:45 PM at booth 710 (straight back as soon as you walk into the hall)!

Stop by to see the amazing Firefly Vein Light, and make sure that you’re following AND when you come see me in order to enter a prize package including a Firefly Vein Light Model 2.0 AND Nurse Kelly’s Notes goodies!

08/26/2025

Love story of the century, NICU edition, featuring Taylor Swift and Travis Kelley!

💍 Share your favorite one in the comments!

08/21/2025

This is part 3 of my preceptor series! Precepting really is a work of heart - I find it so rewarding to watch nurses in my NICU blossom in orientation… but also exceptionally challenging when issues arise.

What questions do you have about precepting? Let’s grow in our practice together!

08/17/2025

Welcome to part 1 of “Tips for NICU Nurse Preceptors”! Part 1 serves as a general overview and introduction to basic tips for orienting new hires to the NICU.

A lot of the tips here are transferable to other nursing specialties, but they’re an important foundation for the more NICU-specific advice coming in part 2!

I love orienting new hires! To me, it’s an art that can be deceptively tricky to master. And as exhausting as it can be for me as an introvert, I also find it rewarding.

Have you precepted before? Tell me more about your experiences in the comments!

08/13/2025

The Life of a day shift NICU nurse: In my Taylor Swift era. 🧡 ✨

08/11/2025

Now available for individual purchase: the NICU Blood Gas Interpretation Badge Reference Card! It includes parameters for defining acidosis and alkalosis, including an algorithm to facilitate interpretation!

Buy it on Etsy today or checkout my website to purchase!

07/18/2025

I swear I’m nice in real life, I just have major RBF 🫣.

What things would you tell someone as NICU nurse if you weren’t afraid to hurt their feelings?

07/11/2025

Time for a quick review of congenital diaphragmatic hernia, or CDH!
✨ What is CDH? CDH occurs when there is a hernia, or hole, in the diaphragm present at birth. As a result, abdominal organs herniate into the chest, leaving less space for development of the lungs and pulmonary vessels. In addition, the pulmonary vessels have abnormally thick walls, increasing the risk for pulmonary hypertension.
🤍 Patients with CDH can be difficult to oxygenate and ventilate. Goals of treatment include minimizing the risk of ventilator associated lung injury (VALI) and optimizing oxygenation and ventilation. Patients may require iNO or ECMO.
🫁 Signs and symptoms include cyanosis, decreased breath sounds on the affected side, respiratory distress, scaphoid abdomen and shifted heart sounds.
💜 What questions do you have about CDH? Let’s learn together!

06/30/2025

Tell me about your unit/hospital float policy - where can NICU nurses float? Who is eligible (or ineligible) to float? Let’s learn about each other’s units!

06/19/2025

Friends, I’d love to hear about your routines, rituals, or habits for self-care after a rough shift!

This post is brought to you by today’s shift, in which I got no break and ran to an emergency delivery while shoveling yogurt in my mouth. I wish my area had break nurses like California!

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Alexandria, VA

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https://www.etsy.com/shop/NurseKellysNotes, https://nursekellysnotes.net/

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