Faces of Nuvance Health - Chris Schilling, RN

"My biggest stressor is when I am unable to continuously watch our monitors and miss something, only later realizing that I could have missed signs of distress in a baby. More than once I've considered leaving this career rather than being victimized along with my patients by unsafe staffing." - Chris Schilling, RN

I am a Labor and Delivery nurse of almost 20 years at Danbury Hospital. Childbirth is a stressful, life-altering period of time! Having a first baby is often the first time a woman experiences "being in the hospital" and all that goes with it. I have been honored to help many of our community not only navigate labor in the hospital, but also to plan for it as the primary certified Childbirth Educator before the COVID-19 pandemic. I love teaching new parents and strengthening my community through knowledge! 

As a specialy unit, we have our own unique staffing issues. Not only do we care for laboring families and high-risk antepartem patients, but we staff our own Operating room, triage most pregnant patients that come to the Emergency Department and setve as a transfer center for the other Nuvance hospitals. Our patient numbers and acuity can fluctuate wildly in the course of a shift. Although many of our moms are young and healthly, we also see a large number of complicated pregnancies, co-morbidities and postpartum re-admissions in our community. When staffing is unsafe for us, the first thing to suffer for our patients is teaching! We are unable to thoroughly explain common practices and procedures to our patients. We cannot help them make informed and personal decision regarding their healthcare. We lack the time to correct the misconceptions and anecdotal advice we get outside of an evidence-based healthcare facility. We have to forego the education that may keep themselves and their babies healthy when they go home as well as for future family planning. As a "gateway" unit to healthcare, we have the ability to cement an impression of competence and care at Danbury hospital, but only if we have time to teach!

That's only the first thing to suffer! Exceeding safe patient limits for us means the nurse is often left to give up or neglect her other patients to delivery a baby or transition the new family, but it could also mean that 3/4 of the staff need to attend an emergency C-section, leaving all of the existing patients in the care of a single RN on an inadequately staffed night. For our patients, hopefully, that may only seem like inattention from the nurse, but it also leads to more unattended deliveries and poorer outcomes. My biggest stressor is when I am unable to continuously watch our monitors and miss something, only later realizing that I could have missed signs of distress in a baby. More than once I've considered leaving this career rather than being victimized along with my patients by unsafe staffing. Our unit is unique in both its staffing needs and its skill and knowledge base. There are established ratios that lead to best outcomes and safe care. Exceeding those ratios is dangerous and disrespectful to our community and to our nurses.