2010-05-11 CNN
OK, moms, you know what I'm talking about here. There you are 25 hours or more of painstaking labor, the sweat, the tears and then finally your baby comes, your dream come true. Everything you ever wanted is right there crying in the delivery room.
But then, the doctor says those heart-stopping words: "There is a problem." Well, if you have been in that situation, then you know how crucial those doctors and nurses in the neonatal ICU are. You're trusting them with your baby's life. These folks have that brand spanking new little life right there in their hands and your peace of mind too; their eyes always watching baby's vital signs.
But hey, watchful eyes and helping hands are no good unless they look fabulous, right? Get this, accusations that workers at a hospital near Los Angeles gave doctors and nurses beauty treatments when timing babies lives were hanging in the balance. Random acts of cosmetology right there in NICU.
KABC's Nirvana Laura has the outreach.
Imagine operating a beauty salon with all the tools and chemicals that go with it inside a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. That's the allegation now under investigation at the Olive View-UCLA Medical Center in Sylmar. And the reason that two staff members are now on paid leave.
It's just ridiculous. They should be caring about the patients more and the health of the little kids, too. Newborns, you know, that's ridiculous.
If my kid was there and they are doing stuff like that, yes, of course, I would want them to get fired, you know. I really think so and they should know better and hopefully that this should be a lesson to be learned.
The anonymous complaints were filed with a Joint Commission that accredits the hospital. The reports include allegations that nurses and doctors got manicures and their eyebrows waxed with the salon tools often resting on medical devices.
Remember these are our county's most vulnerable patients. Many have respiratory issues in cases, they're vulnerable to infection. Having this type of operation in the same facility is unconscionable. Tony Bell, spokesperson for Supervisor Mike Antonovich says Antonovich is pushing for full investigation and fast action. Meantime, in a statement released today the Department of Health Services says, "It is concerned by the allegations made against Olive View-UCLA Medical Center. No NICU patients at Olive View were harmed or transferred to other hospitals as a result of these allegations. We are complying fully with the Joint Commission and will take appropriate personnel action if allegations are substantiated."
Yeah, are you thinking what I'm thinking? Hey, nurse beauty queen and Dr. Unibrow, next time you need a wax, polish or foot rub, do it on your own time, not on the potentially limited time of a newborn clinging to life.
Clothes, furniture, pictures, even the kitchen sink, piles of stuff on lawns and sidewalks in flood-stricken Tennessee. Six days after record-setting rains the water has receded but the disaster, well, it will be around for quite some time.
President Obama has declared 10 Tennessee counties disaster areas. FEMA says more may be added. Thirty-one people died in three states. Residents cleaning up now.
And there are signs of life returning to normal in some parts. City workers are back on the job. Schools are also starting to reopen.
And be sure to tune in this Tuesday. Tune in and turn up the sound. The legendary jam band Widespread Panic is going to be here in studio jamming for us and telling us how those heartbreaking scenes from Nashville have really hit them hard.
They've helped other folks in need and they're going to help middle Tennessee, too. They're going to give back that region -- they're going to get back to that region that they love so much.
You don't have to be a long-time spearhead to love these guys either. Don't miss the rare treat right here live on CNN this Tuesday.