Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Commentary
  • Published:

The next big ideas in NICU design

Journal of Perinatology volume 36, pages 259–262 (2016)Cite this article

Subjects

Neonatal care has seen many dramatic changes over its first generation as a specialty, none more pervasive than the design and operation of the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) itself. Neonatology started in small rooms carved out from newborn nurseries, then evolved into bright, noisy, crowded, windowless units where families were largely excluded and infants were bombarded with noxious stimuli. Today we are building quiet, attractive, family-friendly units with many or all private rooms. Is this the ultimate, or can we do better?

Recent experience suggests that we can, in at least five ways: couplet care, family-integrated care, group care, specialized care and care in other settings.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Relevant articles

Open Access articles citing this article.

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1

References

  1. O’Brien K, Bracht M, Macdonell K, McBride T, Robson K, O’Leary L et al. A pilot cohort study of Family Integrated Care in a Canadian neonatal intensive care unit. BMC Pregnancy Childbirth 2013; 13 (Suppl 1): S1–S12.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Bracht M, O’Leary L, Lee SK, O’Brien K . Implementing family-integrated care in the NICU: a parent education and support program. Adv Neonatal Care 2013; 13: 115–126.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Macdonell K, Christie K, Robson K, Pytlik K, Lee S, O’Brien K et al. Implementing family-integrated care in the NICU: engaging veteran parents in program design and delivery. Adv Neonatal Care 2013; 13: 262–269.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Galarza-Winton ME, Dicky T, O’Leary L, Lee SK, O’Brien K . Implementing family-integrated care in the NICU: educating nurses. Adv Neonatal Care 2013; 13: 335–340.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Jiang S, Warre R, Qiu X, O’Brien K, Lee SK . Parents as practitioners in preterm care. Early Human Dev 2014; 90: 781–785.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Family Integrated Care in the NICU (FICare). clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT01852695.

  7. Walaker H, Meberg A, Nestaas E . Neonatal family care for 24 hours per day: effects on maternal confidence and breast-feeding. J Perinat Neonatal Nurs 2012; 28: 336–342.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Pineda RG, Neil J, Dierker D, Smyser CD, Wallendorf M, Kidokoro H et al. Alterations in brain structure and neurodevelopmental outcome in preterm infants hospitalized in different neonatal intensive care unit environments. J Pediatr 2014; 164: 52–60.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Reynolds LC, Duncan MM, Smith GC, Mathur A, Neil J, Inder T et al. Parental presence and holding in the neonatal intensive care unit and associations with early neurobehavior. J Perinatol 2013; 33: 636–641.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Pineda RG, Stransky KE, Rogers C, Duncan MH, Smith GC, Neil J et al. The single patient room in the NICU: maternal and family effects. J Perinatol 2012; 32: 545–551.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Caskey M, Stephens B, Tucker R, Vohr B . Adult talk in the NICU with preterm infants and developmental outcomes. Pediatrics 2014; 133: 578–584.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Caskey M, Vohr B . Assessing language and language environment of high-risk infants and children: a new approach. Acta Paediatr 2013; 102: 451–461.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Fifer WP, Byrd DL, Kaku M, Eigsti IM, Isler JR, Grose-Fifer J et al. Newborn infants learn during sleep. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 2010; 107: 10320–10323.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  14. Caskey M, Stephens B, Tucker R, Vohr B . Importance of parent talk on the development of preterm infant vocalizations. Pediatrics 2011; 128: 910–916.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. White RD, Smith JA, Shepley MM and the Committee to Establish Recommended Standards for Newborn ICU Design. Recommended standards for newborn ICU design, eighth edition. J Perinatol 2013; 33 (Suppl 1): S2–S16.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. Ang JY, Lua JL, Mathur A, Thomas R, Asmar BI, Savasan S et al. A randomized placebo-controlled trial of massage therapy on the immune system of pereterm infants. Pediatrics 2012; 130: e1549–e1558.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

The author thanks Judy Smith, Gil Martin, Mardelle Shepley and ZGF Architects for their encouragement and wisdom.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Pediatrix Medical Group Director, Regional Newborn Program, Memorial Hospital, South Bend, IN, USA

    R D White

Authors
  1. R D White
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to R D White.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The author declares no conflict of interest.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

White, R. The next big ideas in NICU design. J Perinatol 36, 259–262 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1038/jp.2016.6

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/jp.2016.6

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links