Children's Hospitals Today - Spring 2017 - 5

FIRST PERSON / ROUNDS

The new normal
What I realized when I talked to a young
mother addicted to heroin.
BY SARA MURRAY, RN

n 2012, we opened the 12-bed Neonatal Therapeutic Unit
(NTU) at Hoops Family Children's Hospital in Huntington,
West Virginia, and had no idea that in just five years we
would outgrow our space. The goal was to care appropriately
for infants experiencing Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome
(NAS). As opioid issues increase in our town and state, we
try to accommodate the need for more beds.
Today, the NTU cares for 20-plus babies, and we often have
10 or more babies in the NICU waiting for a bed. The incidence
of drug-exposed babies born at Cabell Huntington Hospital,
where Hoops is located, is 185 out of 1,000 live births. We've
had to adapt to these overwhelming numbers.
We continue to stretch beyond our capabilities-not just
to care for the complex issue of poly-substance exposure but
also to care for the parents who spend their days sitting in
our unit struggling with issues we never thought we'd face
as pediatric specialists. For these young mothers, growing
up among drug use and abuse was "normal."
One day, I talked with a young woman who told me when
she was a preteen, she started shooting heroin with her
mother. She said my normal was not the same as hers, and to
her, it was not abhorrent behavior. It was a reality in her world that children were prostituted
to pay for their parents' drug habits. It was what
she knew in her family.
On the day I talked to that mother, I realized
the opioid crisis is far more reaching than I
ever imagined. It has reached into the soul of
our local youth with tragic consequences. It's a
pervasive culture here, but it's foreign to those
of us who never experienced addiction. We are
thrust into this reality where the language
is different and social norms are abnormal.
More often, we see entire families consumed
with little hope for the future. Yet daily, we are
pushing children into these cultures and environments in
an effort to preserve the family unit and avoid foster care.
We need to think harder about better long-term solutions
for these children.
As a society and as health care professionals, we should
ensure children are not put at risk by sending them home
with parents who cannot provide a safe environment. It is
an injustice for us to look the other way. We must advocate

Learn how children's
hospitals are treating the
most vulnerable victims
of the opioid epidemic at
childrenshospitals.org/opioid.

with passion for these tiny victims and in doing so, we advocate for their parents. The availability of quality treatment for parents is essential. It must be long
term and address the underlying behavioral
and psychiatric issues.
West Virginia, burdened with many addicted
adults and the children who are affected, has
tried to institute safety plans where a family
member is responsible for the baby living in the
drug-using environment. Many times a great
grandmother is designated to keep the baby safe.
But unfortunately, for so many families, that
responsible person is nowhere to be found-a
tragic result of generational addiction. Children
who grow up in drug-using environments are
more likely to be our next generation of addicts.
Here at Hoops, we will continue to advocate passionately for
our patients and their families-if we don't, we'll lose two
generations-or more-to the opioid epidemic.

WE CONTINUE TO
STRETCH BEYOND
OUR CAPABILITIES
TO CARE FOR THE
PARENTS WHO
SPEND THEIR
DAYS IN OUR UNIT.

Sara Murray, RN, is nurse manager at Hoops Family Children's
Hospital Neonatal Therapeutic Unit in Huntington, West Virginia.
Tell your story. Email magazine@childrenshospitals.org.

CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL S TODAY Spring 2017

http://www.childrenshospitals.org/opioid

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Children's Hospitals Today - Spring 2017