Advances: Newborn Intensive Care (2001)
Table of Contents:
- Families as Advisors in Newborn Intensive Care
- New Concepts, Science, Experiences Drive Innovative Designs
- Innovations in Newborn Intensive Care Design: A Photo Tour
- Communicating with Families at the Bedside
- Parents on Rounds: The Debate
- FIRST-Preparing Community
- Professionals for Family-Centered Developmentally Supportive Practice
- Vermont Oxford Network's National Quality Improvement Project
This issue of Advances focuses on ways in which family-centered care is being integrated into the care of infants in newborn intensive care units (NICUs). The changes described are making visible improvements in health care facilities, as well as in program and policy development at hospitals in the United States and Canada.
While these changes are reflected in a variety of ways, they are all guided by a shared recognition that the experience of care for the infant and for the family matters. There is growing appreciation of the impact of the experience of care, not only on clinical and long-term developmental outcomes, but also on family/infant relationships, family perceptions of care, and even on working relationships among staff.
Many of the changes being seen in NICUs are grounded in the recognition that families are not visitors in the NICU. Parents are the constant in the infant's life; their relationship with the infant is essential to the baby's long-term health and well-being. New findings in neuroscience and brain development, as well as research on the importance of individualized developmentally supportive care, have led many hospitals to offer a more relationship-centered system of care for these fragile infants.
A systematic review of past research, coupled with new findings about the impact of physical environment, has, at the same time, led to important changes in the design of critical care areas. When they engage in a new design or renovation project, hospitals have a unique opportunity to create environments that are supportive of family-centered practice.
Integrating family-centered care in special care nurseries, as in other areas of the hospital, requires a comprehensive approach. It must touch all aspects of a hospital's operations-from policies governing visiting hours, to decisions concerning the design of new facilities, to the communication and relationships with individual staff members and physicians.
We hope that the information contained in this issue, which reflects the challenges and accomplishments of staff and families in a variety of NICUs, will be of value not only to those engaged in newborn intensive care but to those involved in all aspects of health care.
Item No. 32072, Price $8