Is your unit a collection of rooms or one big one?

Specialties NICU

Published

  • Specializes in Newborn ICU, Trauma ICU, Burn ICU, Peds.

i need help. i work in a 40 bed level iii nicu in a huge teaching hospital. our nicu is made up of four rooms, a 10 bed, two 9 beds, and a 12 bed room. currently our policy is that the first two rooms are where our sickest kids are placed (vented, oscillators, jets, ecmo, etc). the third room is usually our chronic room (long termers, trached babies, etc.) and the fourth room is the grower feeder room. we now "graduate" babies through the rooms as they get better or if they get sick.

we are working on a changing this to a mixed acuity setting (i.e. whatever room you are admitted to, is where you remain until discharge) and also we are trying to divide the staff into four rooms as well. staff will be assigned as teams to a room. apparently this is an attempt at improving the continuity of care.

i am very interested in finding out from others how your unit is set up and especially if you changed to a mixed acuity froma divided acuity unit. thank you so much!

faith

mac23

107 Posts

our unit is 6 rooms of 9 beds in each room. we have a seperate room for ecmo and two nesting rooms where parents can stay with the baby before discharge. rooms 1-3 are our level 3 babies, 4-6 are are feeder growers. they tried that mixed acuity thing and it didn't work for various reasons. a 24 weeker next to a screaming 39 weeker didn't work out to well. our babies graduate from rooms 1-3 to rooms 4-6 and if they get sick they go back to rooms 1-3. also we have two different staffs and we are considered two different units. now they are trying to make it "all one unit" but it's not flying with either staff because some have no desire to do feeder/growers and some have no desire to do vents etc.

i need help. i work in a 40 bed level iii nicu in a huge teaching hospital. our nicu is made up of four rooms, a 10 bed, two 9 beds, and a 12 bed room. currently our policy is that the first two rooms are where our sickest kids are placed (vented, oscillators, jets, ecmo, etc). the third room is usually our chronic room (long termers, trached babies, etc.) and the fourth room is the grower feeder room. we now "graduate" babies through the rooms as they get better or if they get sick.

we are working on a changing this to a mixed acuity setting (i.e. whatever room you are admitted to, is where you remain until discharge) and also we are trying to divide the staff into four rooms as well. staff will be assigned as teams to a room. apparently this is an attempt at improving the continuity of care.

i am very interested in finding out from others how your unit is set up and especially if you changed to a mixed acuity froma divided acuity unit. thank you so much!

faith

nurseiam

150 Posts

Specializes in NICU, PICU,IVT,PedM/S.

Our unit is large. there are 5 rooms that have from 6-potentially 14 spots plus an ICN for 26 pts.

We used to admit into 2 of the rooms, special care in another and stable vent/NCP in the other two. But now we admit the smallest and sickest into the first two rooms but others can go anywhere. I think it makes a better blend of assignments.

Specializes in NICU, PICU, educator.

Our unit is set up with 9 pods...one is a two bed isolation are, the others have 5 regular spots and 1 overflow. We have mixed acuity, which works out best for assignments, IMHO. We have one room that has glass in the windows...we use this room for OR and only admit to there if needed. We have also used it as a quiet room for really bad chronics.

Oh, we have the capacity for 50.

AllyZ

14 Posts

i work in a 50 bed unit of a huge pediatric hospital. we have some grouped rooms and some individual rooms. we practice team nursing so the same patients are cared for by the same team. all our rooms are mixed acuity, and it works pretty well. it is definately easier for grouping patients. our rooms are occasionally switched around to accommodate new admits, but it is definately easier on the parents to always see the same people. so for example we have an 8 bed room that has a trach baby, growing former micropreemie, vented baby, and an oscillator. it is definately easier finding space for kids in case a particular room is full. our ecmo kids go wherever we can fit them. it has worked really well for us, so i hope it works for you!!

i need help. i work in a 40 bed level iii nicu in a huge teaching hospital. our nicu is made up of four rooms, a 10 bed, two 9 beds, and a 12 bed room. currently our policy is that the first two rooms are where our sickest kids are placed (vented, oscillators, jets, ecmo, etc). the third room is usually our chronic room (long termers, trached babies, etc.) and the fourth room is the grower feeder room. we now "graduate" babies through the rooms as they get better or if they get sick.

we are working on a changing this to a mixed acuity setting (i.e. whatever room you are admitted to, is where you remain until discharge) and also we are trying to divide the staff into four rooms as well. staff will be assigned as teams to a room. apparently this is an attempt at improving the continuity of care.

i am very interested in finding out from others how your unit is set up and especially if you changed to a mixed acuity froma divided acuity unit. thank you so much!

faith

+ Add a Comment