Re: the oldest baby in your level 3 nicu

We frequently can't get round the clock care for most of our babies, so some go to a full care facility. Babies with doubtful viability--like some severe brain damaged babies, as well as babies whose parents aren't quite as trustworthy to care for them as we'd hoped. In several cases, the babies did eventually go home to their parents after more training. Some died, but one was still alive and doing amazingly well three years later. It's always incredible to work with these babies!

Dawn

Re: the oldest baby in your level 3 nicu

Interesting. We have a unit dedicated to longer-term, chronic care kind of kids in our hospital. And there they stay until insurance and the home care agency have worked out getting nurses hired and trained. For babies with doubtful outcomes, we have a neonatal hospice program that will transition them home with home care. And the less than trustworthy parents, their babies eventually go to medical foster care. I don't know that we would have success with insurance paying for LTC in that situation. It's so interesting hearing how things are different other places.

Re: the oldest baby in your level 3 nicu

We have nearly all of the same thing in our hospital, except for the long term chronic care unit--that would be us. Got the long term kids (one is nine months old right now) and the preemies all mixed up together in our unit.

We have a pediatric hospice in the local area, but they can't take babies who are on vents and lots of IVs, that kind of thing. They do help out with care, however, when needed. One of my friends does the medical foster care--and it's rarely short-time. She sometimes has those babies for months.

Dawn

Re: the oldest baby in your level 3 nicu

In our unit the oldest is 2yrs 3 mos. Charge syndrome with trach.soon we have a toddler roaming around our level II wide room.This kid is starting to walk alone. No chance to transfer to a specilized hosp. bec. they are not accepting one with trach.We love this kid so much...

Re: the oldest baby in your level 3 nicu

That amount of money to keep a kid in a level 2 or three nicu is horrible 2-3 grand a day? Get these kids home and let their parents learn how to take care of them and get them the RN home health care they need. It's like the parents aren't parents. Walking? Must have better developmental care than some units. Are you sure you don't mean he's in peds? This is where dollars are being spent by the taxpayers. And what's interesting is if you read the research, most neo's wouldn't want their families or themselves to "save" a 23-25 weeker but would only paint the best scenario for the parents. There is value in their little lives but we cant save them all. Would anyone agree that sometimes it feels like torture? And enough is enough. Parents come in for about 10 minutes and leave and the docs don't paint the true picture with stats to back them up. People are afraid of the Obama death talks that MDs are going to be paid for having with their elderly patients (IMO they should have them anyway) what about our precious preemies?

Re: the oldest baby in your level 3 nicu

In our facility, level II care is 2-3 thousand a day for just the base charge, not including meds, radiology, lab, etc. I don't know, but I can only imagine what level III costs...

The thing that makes it difficult to know is that some 23-25 weekers turn out to be perfectly lovely children with few if any special needs. Others turn out to be perfectly lovely children with immense special needs. And we don't always know which will be which when the decisions need to be made. We track the developmental outcomes of our preemies, and a surprising percent of those micro preemies turn out alright. I don't want to quote a percent because I don't have it right in front of me, but I know it was significant.

Re: the oldest baby in your level 3 nicu

We don't have a PICU, but we try to get them to a pedi LTAC when we can. The oldest I remember was a little over 7 months. I hear stories from the old days about a patient that could push her own IV pole.