Original Work Log
Date Time Accomplishment
01/23/20 6:00pm - Researched and read
8:30pm article over mothers’
experiences in the NICU,
learned about specific
struggles faced (i.e feeling
like outsider in baby’s life,
extreme stress, etc.)
02/06/20 6:00pm- Read and analyzed article
8:30pm over the history of the
NICU. Learned about how
technology and treatments
changed over the years to
decrease infant mortality
(i.e. development of
thermal regulation with
incubators, monitoring of
oxygen levels through
tracking of arterial oxygen
tension).
02/27/20 6:00pm- I read and took notes over
9:30pm three articles detailing
basic facts about the
NICU, such as equipment
commonly used, nursing
methods (things the nurses
do, not nursing as in actual
feeding), and procedures
for visiting. As noted in
the time section, this took
longer than usual since I
wanted to get information
from a variety of sources
in order to make sure that
what I was learning was
accurate, since these
newsletters would be sent
Reflection
The article I read and analyzed
listed specific things that made
having a baby in the NICU a tough
experience, and reading that
allowed me to tailor the content of
the proposed newsletters to address
the concerns listed.
After discussing with Dr. Savani, I
had wanted to include a section in
my newsletters over the
development of the standard of care
in the NICU in order for parents to
understand that their baby is
receiving the best possible care.
This article allowed me to gain the
information necessary for this.
After reading these articles and
discussing them with Dr. Savani, I
think I now have a pretty good
understanding of what’s in the
NICU and the medical personnel
involved in this unit. Although there
is still some more information I
need to look into, I think I have a
majority of the information I need
to create the “What to Expect”
section of the newsletters.
Goal
Now that I have a better
idea of what points
exactly I need to address
in the newsletters, I have
to start researching and
reading articles to gain
more information on
these subjects
Now that I have the
information I need for
the section over the
development of care in
the NICU, I can move on
to researching the basics
of what to expect when
you have a baby in the
NICU.
I think that the “What to
Expect” section of the
newsletter is one of the
most important for
parents who have a baby
in the NICU. Because of
this, I think there’s still a
lot more I need to
research before I have
sufficient information to
create this section of the
newsletters. Next, I want
to look more in detail
over the types of
ventilators used in the
NICU and their purposes.
 to parents.
03/04/20 1:00pm- I researched about the
3:30pm three types of ventilators
commonly used in the
NICU and their purposes.
I previously read that
heating and cooling beds
were used in the NICU for
temperature regulation,
but after going into detail
on the topic of ventilators
commonly used, I realized
that these beds are no
longer used.
03/11/20 3:00pm- I compiled all the
6:00pm information I gained thus
far into a single document.
I organized the
information under their
respective categories and
made a list of the sources I
used in order to cite them
when creating the final
product. So far I’ve
covered all the topics I
wanted to include in my
newsletters except the
importance of visiting /
more detail on visiting
procedures. Once I get that
done I can begin focusing
on organizing my
information and
fact-checking with Dr.
Savani.
03/23/20 1:00pm- I continued compiling
3:00pm information researched
into specific categories.
(Picture included in
assignment submission)
After discussing what I looked at
previously with Dr. Savani, he had
asked me to look into the three
types of ventilators used in the
NICU. Now that I’ve done this, I
can move on to other sections of the
newsletters.
I don’t think I’ll be able to shadow
Dr. Savani anytime soon, so I’ve
been continuing to gather my
information from articles. So far I
have pretty much all the
information I need to create the
newsletters, but I want to keep
researching in order to get the most
information before I share what I’ve
found with Dr. Savani. Once I’m
done compiling information, I need
to discuss it with Dr. Savani to
make sure it’s accurate and that
there’s nothing else that needs to be
added.
I’ve been trying to contact Dr.
Savani to try in order to receive
feedback over my work thus far, but
so far both I and Anya (the other
student Dr. Savani is mentoring) are
having difficulty getting a response.
I’m sure he’s just busy with
Now that I have the
information to complete
this section of the
newsletters I am now
able to move onto other
sections and I want to be
able to do that over
spring break.
According to my OW
proposal, I’m supposed
to have all the
information compiled
and organized by the end
of March, and begin
sending out newsletters
at the start of April. I was
supposed to have met
with a few people from
Dr. Savani’s team in
order to get more
information for my
newsletters, but I’m not
sure if that’s possible
anymore. For now, I
want to continue
compiling and organizing
information so I can stay
on schedule as much as I
can.
I’m supposed to start
sending out newsletters
at the beginning of April,
but unless I get a
response soon I’m going
to have to make some
changes to my plan to
everything that’s going on, but I’m
not really sure of where to go from
here since I can’t continue unless I
get approval from Dr. Savani on the
information I’ve gathered.
accomodate for the
current situation.
Hopefully that won’t be
an issue, but I’m going to
try and come up with an
alternative just in case.