Neonatal Services
- 30 beds
- Provides care for neonates from birth to discharge.
- Specialized care provided includes but not limited to the cardiac, respiratory and immune systems. The staff is also skilled in providing, pre-operative, intra-operative and post operative care as needed.
- Staffed by registered nurses, nurse practitioners, nursing support technicians, nurse helpers, clinical nursing students, unit secretaries, clinical manager and clinical partner.
- Services are provided twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week.
Sick or very premature infants and babies requiring close observation are admitted to the NICU. The NICU is a Level III ( ) provider of tertiary newborn services. It has access to various consultants, and services that allow treatment of the full range of neonatal problems. The NICU consists of 30 beds divided into an: Intensive Care Unit and a Intermediate Care Unit. The NICU is patient friendly; there is individual lighting for each baby (generally set to low levels) and acoustic shielding, providing an atmosphere conducive to healing and well-being. Experienced physicians and neonatal nurse practitioners provide 24 hour a day, in-house coverage for the NICU, Newborn Nursery, and Labor and Delivery areas. There is a 24 hour a day availablilty of Board- certified Neonatologists to these areas. Additionally, a respiratory therapist is continually assigned to the NICU. GBMC is one of the few hospitals in the Baltimore area that has these levels of expertise in-hospital around the clock.
The NICU is family-oriented and provides, in addition to a high level of medical and nursing care, compassion and caring attention to infants and families. In the NICU, parents are encouraged to visit frequently.
Visiting is permitted at all times except during the hours of nursing change of shift (6:30 to 7:30 in the morning and evening). Family, including siblings at least 12 years of age, and friends may visit, but must be accompanied by a parent. Following screening, siblings between 3 - 12 years of age can also visit. Parents are considered a central part of the care team and as infants improve, parents are encouraged to provide breast or bottle feedings as appropriate.
A Parent Support Group meets twice a month. At these meetings, parents of NICU babies gather to talk about their situation or meet with experts who talk about relevant subjects. Our Discharge Coordinator who is a NICU nurse, helps facilitate a baby's transition from hospital to home. Her duties include helping obtain insurance approval for home medications, equipment and skilled care when necessary.
For parents' convenience, family sleep rooms are located on the unit. These rooms are utilized by parents prior to the discharge of their child in order to allow them to practice the skills they will need and to ease this very special passage from hospital to home. To us, providing neonatal intensive care means caring intensively.
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