Neonatal Intensive Care Unit

• NICU Home
• Table of Contents
• Caring For Your Baby
• Going Home
• Who's Who in the NICU
• Terms You May Hear
• Common Medical Problems
• Newborn Care Guide

Mission and Vision

Provide quality, compassionate, and family centered Neonatal Care (Level III), Step-Down (Level II) and Special Care (Level I) to newborns greater than 27 weeks of gestation. The Neonatal Intensive Care Unit provides stabilization and pre-transfer care to infants born less than 27 weeks gestation and those who require a higher level of care.

Hours and Location

Overview

The 12-bed Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) is a special area of the newborn nursery in Carl R. Darnall Army Medical Center where doctors and nurses provide around-the-clock care to sick newborns. In the NICU, babies receive more intensive attention than is possible in a regular newborn nursery. The NICU staff members have special training in their fields.

Parents may visit their infant 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. However, parents will be asked to leave the NICU during the following:

• Nursing change of shifts: 6:45 a.m. - 7:15 a.m., 2:45 p.m. - 3:15 p.m., and 11 p.m. - 11:30 p.m.
• Crisis or Emergency situations

Parents must show proper wristband identification or ID card prior to visiting their infant:

• Only two visitors per infant are allowed at any time
• Siblings, 12 years or older, may visit if they accompanied by a parent
• No siblings are permitted to visit if he/she has an upper respiratory infection, temperature, has been exposed to a communicable disease, or has not had chicken pox.
• Grandparents may visit, at anytime, if accompanied by one of the parents
• The mother may designate one "significant other" if the father is unavailable or not involved. However, the “significant other” is not allowed to bring visitors into the NICU.

Policies and Procedures

The NICU policies and procedures are in compliance with the following regulatory guidance:

• American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP)
• Neonatal Resuscitation Program (NRP)
• Association of Women's Health, Obstetric, and Neonatal Nurses (AWHONN)