NICU Waiting Room Design

NicuGal, MSN, RN · Oct 30, 2011

Wow...I'd love all that but where I work, they would strip that place clean in about 5 mintues, regardless of the security lol

Our waiting room is pretty universal, couches, chairs, lockers, bathroom, phone, TV. We do put up info boards for parents on different things, such as right now, RSV season. We also put up any info on any PI projects we are doing (that is something management wants, we know the vast majority don't read it lol).

The problem with play areas and such are cleaning and monitoring.....who would run those areas, child life or volunteers? And as for the expensive electronics, how are you going to keep tabs on it and who will be responsible for it.

I'd get with PICU and see what they want too. Keep it simple! Can you get a Ronald McDonald house to move in? We are working on that for our peds floor right now.

umcRN, BSN, RN · Oct 30, 2011

We've got the basic chairs/couches, one main TV and a smaller TV in the "kiddie corner" that has some basic toys and books for kiddos and the tv generally stays on PBS/Disney/and the preschool Nickelodeon channel. There are about 6 computers I think that are hooked up to the same hospital network as the tv's/computers are in the patient rooms. Parents can get on the internet there. There is a bathroom and refreshments as well as tables where parents can bring food & eat (no eating in pt rooms).

Now we are having some issues battling to get the same amenities provided in the PICU/CICU waiting areas, those areas have parents showers, laundry, a kitchen with fridge and just a much larger area in general despite the fact that the NICU has twice as man patients as those two units combined. We are trying to at least get a refrigerator for our parents but are having trouble getting approved.

Bortaz, MSN, RN · Oct 31, 2011

Few of our parents stay on the unit more than an hour at a time. I don't see any need for any of this stuff where I work. Some I wish would stay longer. Some...less.

NicuGal, MSN, RN · Oct 31, 2011

We had to take our fridge out because they wanted to treat it like a patient food fridge and we would have to do temp checks and such. Also, housekeeping doesn't want to take resposiblility for cleaning it and honestly, we don't have time to...we lost our aides and are already up to our eyeballs with keeping the unit together and stocked.

I know what you mean about your PICU...ours have parent rooms, we don't. We have to get them to lend us a room if we have a parent that needs to stay. Ugh.

kitty29 · Nov 3, 2011

Just checking the post - txs for them gang!

Right now we have a shared kitchen area for clients that is not used. We also have an area in the NICU. The one not used is getting taken out in the redo. For our areas the frig. temps are monitored by an area sepparate from us and they call if there is an issue.

We only have one computer for famies in the waiting area now and I believe they will have more; otherwise we have laptops to sign out. No library area at all and I'd like that for pts/families. We have a huge fish tank I guess is our "nature area" for distraction....hope we get to keep that!!! I'd like to see more recliners for visitors! And vending machines with healthy snacks but it won't be approved.

Security....I think will be increased to someone at a desk and a locked door otherwise. They are working on something for parents to have picture ID's like we do that can be scanned in the secure area before they come into the units - that would be kind of neat!