Moving from open concept to single room

babyNP., APRN · Jan 19, 2015

My unit made the switch when I was a RN. We loved the change overall and still do. It's so much nicer for parents and much quieter for the little ones. I would look into what your staffing is like. We used to pair ventilators in the old unit because you could keep a close eye on both, but in this unit, we don't (unless an extreme situation). There were also glass doors between many of the rooms, so you could keep an eye on the other patient and we pulled up the other child's monitor in the room that we were in as well.

It's all about getting a feel for which patients you can "trust" vs those that you have to keep a hawk eye on not to pull out their endotracheal tube.

Something we did learn through some growing pains is that because you are a bit isolated, it's harder for people to tell if you're drowning, so you need to make sure that people are speaking up when they need help- especially the newer nurses before they sink.

My new facility has a mix of private rooms and open pods and I don't really like it as much. It's so noisy, which I imagine is hard on the really sick babies.

tinkerbell419 · Jan 20, 2015

We have babies in transitional care rooms or isolation rooms but not all of them. I think i would find that a little scary having babies in indi idual rooms for safety reasons such as baby having a brady, an apneoa, an emergency, anything. Even having too many visitors. I like to be able to keep a view on the babies that arent just my patients but to be there for other nurses so i can keep a watchful eye. It will take some adjustment. Maybe have baby monitors in each room and try to keep doors open if there is no infection risk so you can hear the alarms.

Watch out for non permitted people visiting baby when they shouldnt

tinkerbell419 · Jan 20, 2015

I like the idea of glass doors, well maybe not glass as such but maybe a panel that can be see through and I agree to pair similar patients together.

Baby Wrangler · Jan 26, 2015

Thanks for the tips everyone! I just worry that we're so short staffed right now in our current unit, and we're moving in a month haha. And since our hiring spree to fix the short staffed situation, like a quarter of our nurses have less than one year's experience.

Do people find that three baby assignments are feasible in the new unit? Our acuity tends to be pretty high, so there's some stable but fairly busy babies on three babies.

They told us that we're going to be putting twins and triplets in the same room together, as opposed to putting similar patients together. Hopefully you won't have three vents in a room at once lol.

I think I'll really miss the camaraderie and teamwork of having all the nurses in one big area, especially on nights, when you can chat a bit while doing up your babies, and get someone to look at something quickly and give you a second opinion. It just makes your shift that much better when you have good people close by. Oh well.

danielle2000, MSN, RN · Feb 12, 2015

Our NICU unit is made up of single rooms. It looks like a med-surg unit. Each nurse has a Vocera to stay in constant contact with their babies. For instance if they are having desats, your Vocera will notify you and you can be there readily. It is great for the parents to bond in privacy especially breastfeeding. It does take time getting use too but in the long run I think it is good for babies especially those who cannot tolerate a lot of noise.