Psychiatric intensive care units (PICUs) fulfil a role analogous to the intensive care/ intensive therapy units familiar in general hospitals. Lehane and Rees ( 1995 ), Saverimuttu ( 1996 ) and Ford and Whiffin ( 1991 ) described the establishment of PICUs, where patients who are severely unwell or who present severe management problems can be nursed in safety.

OBJECTIVE Multidisciplinary teams from 11 medical center neonatal intensive care units collaborated in a quality improvement project with a focus on family-centered care. METHODS Through a process of self-analysis, literature review, benchmarking site visits, and expert consultation, 10 potentially better practice (PBP) areas were defined. Improvement activities in 4 of the 10 areas are given...

OBJECTIVE Part of the process of deriving and refining the CARE (communication, accountability, respect, empowerment) focus group's potentially better practices (PBPs) for multidisciplinary teamwork was to evaluate and experience the PBPs through implementation. METHODS The 4 neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) in the CARE focus group each worked with implementation of the PBPs. The choice ...

Neonatal transport is associated with complications, more so in sick and unstable neonates who need immediate emergency surgery. To circumvent these problems, surgery in Neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) is proposed for these neonates. This article reviews the literature regarding feasibility of this novel concept and based on the generated evidence, suggest the NICU planners to always includ...

OBJECTIVE To identify satisfaction with neonatal intensive care as viewed by parents and healthcare professionals and to explore similarities and differences between parents and healthcare professionals. STUDY DESIGN A 3-round Delphi method to identify neonatal care issues (round 1) and to determine the importance of these issues (rounds 2 and 3) was conducted among nurses (n = 84) and physic...

At St. Joseph's Regional Medical Center in Paterson, New Jersey, implementation of the Relationship-Based Care (RBC) model of care delivery and enculturation of the philosophy of care embodied in Jean Watson's Theory of Human Caring (Watson, 2007) improved patient outcomes and supported quality nursing care across the continuum of care in our organization. The ability of staff nurses to create ...

INTRODUCTION Transition of a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) to a new physical plant incurs many challenges. These are amplified when the culture of care is changing from traditional cohort-based care to the single-family room model. Altered healthcare delivery systems can be tested in situ with TESTPILOT: Transportable Enhanced Simulation Technologies for Pre-Implementation Limited Operati...

This article presents the elements of the Intervention section of the Infant Care Path for Physical Therapy in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU). The types of physical therapy interventions presented in this path are evidence-based and the suggested timing of these interventions is primarily based on practice knowledge from expert therapists, with supporting evidence cited. Physical thera...

A neonatal intensive care unit outbreak was caused by a strain of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus previously found in the community (ST45-MRSA-IV). Fifteen infected neonates were identified, 2 of whom died. This outbreak illustrates how a rare community pathogen can rapidly spread through nosocomial transmission.