 The
Level III Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) is part of SRHS’s Women’s
Life Center. It is responsible for the care of high-risk newborns. It
houses 18 intermediate beds and 12 intensive care beds. The NICU staff
considers family interaction extremely important. A major focus of the
NICU is helping parents learn how to care for their infants, some of who
may have special health concerns (i.e., feeding, changing diapers, and
bathing). This, in turn, assists the parents in becoming more
comfortable with their infant’s care at discharge.
The NICU is divided into 2 separate areas. One area is designed for
newborns who are VERY ill. This area is the “Intensive Care Unit”. It
contains 12 beds including two isolation rooms. The other area is called
the “Intermediate Nursery” with a sub-unit called the “Graduate
Nursery”. The Intermediate Care Nursery is designed for newborns who are
not as ill as newborns in the Intensive Care Unit, but still need the
special attention the NICU provides. The Graduate Nursery is designed
for infants preparing for discharge. Here, parental involvement is
stressed to ease transition of care from the nursing staff to the
parents.
The staff in the NICU takes pride in being the top care center for
high-risk newborns in the Southern Crescent. We work hard to make the
environment for babies and parents as comfortable as possible. We use
special techniques in our care that have been shown to best help the
newborn develop neurologically. These techniques are called “Developmental
Care”. The physician and nursing staff in the NICU help teach the
parents about developmental care. The
parents use this knowledge while visiting their babies in the NICU and
take this knowledge home with them and their babies. |