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Premature
babies need very special care by highly skilled and trained
nurses. One of the primary contributing factors towards their
recovery is the sterile environment of the Neonatal Intensive Care
Unit. Premature babies have immature immune systems and are susceptible
to infections which could be life-threatening.
Rules
and Regulations
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You may call
anytime to check on your baby.
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Always wash and
scrub your hands when you arrive in NICU.
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If you have more
than one baby in NICU, wash hands between visiting babies.
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Only visit with
your own baby.
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Never visit any
of the other little patients.
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Do not visit
while the nurse shift is changing over and they are briefing the
new shift.
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Do not visit
your baby if you are sick without checking with the staff.
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Do not bring
along the family for visits without arranging with the staff or
checking that you may bring in a visitor. Usually visits
are limited to Mom and Dad only. Ministers are welcome by
appointment.
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Do not tamper
with your baby's equipment and monitors.
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Bring along
toys, tapes and music for your baby.
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You may be
allowed to provide personal clothing and blankets for your baby.
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You will be
encouraged to breastfeed or express breast milk for your baby,
even if your baby is not feeding yet, the milk can be frozen for
use at a later date.
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The nurse caring
for your baby will provide you with information on the babies
progress and will advise you if you may change a nappy, hold,
bath or breastfeed. Some infants are too sick to be held,
so always check first.
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In an emergency,
or during a procedure you may be asked to leave. Some
procedures make your baby cry and can be upsetting for you as a
parent to watch, until you get used to it - such as the drawing
of blood. The nurses also prefer that your baby does not
associate you with pain. You will be able to comfort your
baby after any procedure.
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The NICU remains
a very sterile environment, and a major concern is the amount of
traffic through NICU. Nurses, Dr's, specialists, cleaning
staff, visitors, equipment mechanics... It helps to minimize the
amount of exposure the sick infant gets from infections that can
be passed on to them. Premature babies can very quickly
pick up a virus and get very ill or even die from complications.
The smaller baby is at a much higher risk, and when they do get
sick, their progress is setback, sometimes quite dramatically
because their energy which is spent on growing now has to be
spent on fighting an infection. These babies end back up
on oxygen or sometimes require ventilation or nasal feedings
because they are too sick to feed or breathe normally.
Germs are spread from the mouth, nose and from the hands.
Washing your hands and wearing a mask over your nose and mouth
can prevent the spreading of germs to a large extent.
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You need to
attend a class in infant/child CPR prior to the discharge of
your baby from NICU. |
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