The Case of the Mysterious Milk

Thursday night 18th December 2025 8:30pm

Night nurse tonight is a bank shift nurse and has never worked on Lion Ward before. She doesn’t know where anything is — bless her. Well… she doesn’t know Maya at all and her ICANS (neurotoxicity syndrome).

** A bank nurse is a trained nurse covering a shift who doesn’t usually work on that ward, so they may not yet know the routines or where everything is. **

I noticed a bottle of milk hanging on the IV stand and asked, “Why is Maya’s milk there? Her NG feed isn’t due until 9pm.”

Was that the 5pm feed? Or did the day nurse kindly put it out just before the 8pm-handover so it wouldn’t be too cold for Maya’s tummy?

Cue blank stare.

Turns out… she didn’t even know Maya has feeds.

“Is it continuous?” she asks.

[ Hint: It’s in Maya’s Care Plan. 160ml of milk 4-hourly ]

9PM: Night nurse was about to connect the milk. I queried, “You are going to aspirate the NG tube first, and check with strip, right?”

Cue blank stare.

I added, “Because if it’s still milky, then that means Maya hasn’t fully absorbed the 5pm feed. And if pH > 5.5 → then ❌ position cannot be confirmed → feed maybe withheld…”

At this point I’m just blinking slowly, trying to stay calm, reminding myself to breathe.

Heaven help me.

Wahhh!!! 😭 It will be a looong night!

(Deep breaths. Just one night. We’ve got this… right?)