by lmwnnicurn

Hello,

I'm new to the forum. I work in a busy level 3 and feel that our parents would feel much more
supported if we had a neutral support person that was available to them. I'm wondering if other
centers have such a position.

Re: Family Support Person

We have several social workers that just deal with our Moms / families. If Mom is inpatient on antepartum, then they get hooked up with them at that point as well.

Re: Family Support Person

We do have a designated support person, who has been working for our unit just over two years on a grant-type arrangement. She has a social work/counseling background of some sort, but is not a practicing social worker. She conducts support groups and checks with NICU families on a regular basis to act as a sounding board and liason for any type of concerns they have, and also attends interdisciplinary care conferences, etc to act as a family advocate. She is a dedicated member of our NICU staff and as far as I'm concerned, indispensible in situations such as poor prognoses or withdrawal of care. She is wonderful at diffusing situations with agitated or upset families. I'm hoping her funding continues, as I'm not sure what we'd do without her!! As an aside, we do have a dedicated social worker for our unit, who assists in such things as funding/housing issues, legal issues, child protective services, vouchers for travel, etc.

Re: Family Support Person

@ - Love the NICU....
I would love to contact your hospital's family support person. I am in the process of trying to convince our unit that we need exactly that (and that I should do it....hehe!) I'm going back to complete my master's in counseling, in hopes that when and if they decide to go for it, I'll be even more prepared. (nothing like extra "initials" behind the name to inspire confidence from the bosses!) I'd love to hear from your family support person and get a brief description of her job responsibilities, her educational background, and how she fits into the daily management of the unit. Does she have a medical background? Also...did you say her position was grant funded? -- I wonder how one goes about getting that kind of a grant? Any and all help would be very much appreciated...this has been a passion of mine for years and years!
thanks -- Spacy

Re: Family Support Person

Spacey,

I will see about getting some contact information for you- if she doesn't mind, of course- and getting better answers for your questions if at all possible. I don't know if I will have a chance to do so this week, as our NICU reunion picnic is this weekend and I'm sure that is our support person's priority now, as she organizes the whole shindig. I'll be in touch!

-LovetheNICU