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The
Hospital of Choice for Newborns Requiring Intensive Caring
The Neonatal
Intensive Care Unit at Miami Children's Hospital is proud to serve
as a regional, national, and international Level III D referral
center, receiving critically ill newborns from throughout South
Florida, as well South and Central America and the Caribbean.
The 39-bed unit
Level III unit has earned the confidence of families and referring
hospitals near and far, maintaining a 98 percent survival rate -
one of the best in the nation - even as it cares for the region's
most severely ill newborns. In addition, MCH is currently in the
process of designing and building a new, state-of-the-art 56 bed,
individual private room NICU scheduled for completion in 2007.
Care for Premature and Critically Ill Children
Miami Children's NICU provides care for more than 800 critically
ill newborns each year. In the past 20 years the NICU, which was
the first of its kind in South Florida, has received more than 10,000
premature and critically ill babies from throughout Florida and
Central and South America. Most of these neonates were born at community
hospitals after a premature or high-risk delivery. Approximately
60 percent of the babies admitted to the unit weigh less than three
pounds.
Newborns with
these and other serious diagnoses are also referred to the NICU:
- Respiratory Distress Syndrome
- Sepsis (serious infections)
- Congenital anomalies
- Respiratory failure
- Trauma
- Seizures
A
Team Approach
The NICU is staffed around the clock by in-house, highly experienced
board-certified neonatologists (physicians who specialize in the
care of newborns and premature babies) as well as nurses who are
certified in neonatal care. Rounding out the unit-based care team
are occupational therapists, physical therapists and social workers
who are experienced in supporting families in caring for neonates.
Contributing
to the high quality of care in the NICU is a full spectrum of pediatric
subspecialists whose practices are based right on the Miami Children's
Hospital campus. These experts are readily available for consultation
based on the individual needs of newborns and include leading pediatric
cardiologists, cardiovascular surgeons, neurologists, neurosurgeons,
general pediatric surgeons, geneticists, ophthalmologists, gastroenterologists
and many more.
Families are reassured knowing that so many highly recognized pediatric
subspecialists are available to participate in the care of critically
ill babies.
Advanced
Care
To ensure that patients benefit from all the latest advances, the
NICU offers the most current monitoring systems, ventilator support
and incubators, including Nature's Cradle, a system that replicates
the sound and motion of the mother's womb.
The unit provides
both invasive and non-invasive monitoring of the newborn's cardiorespiratory
system, oxygen, suction and age-appropriate thermoregulation. In
addition, each neonate's heart rate, respiratory rate, blood pressure
and oxygen saturation are monitored continuously.
Also available
through the hospital's NICU critical care team:
- Intravascular arterial and venous monitoring
- Pulmonary artery catheterization
- Subdural and intravascular pressure monitoring
with 24 hours/day
EEG telemetry
- High frequency ventilation
- Apheresis blood treatment (the only one available
24 hours a day)
- Nitric oxide
- Access to the latest Neonatal Research Protocols
- Continuous Video EEG monitoring and recording.
The division
is a member of the Vermont Oxford Hospital Trials Group, and participates
in research on the developmental outcome of newborns with birth
weights less than 1,500 grams.
Medical
Transport Services
Newborns being transferred from other hospitals to the Miami Children's
NICU are transported by the hospital's LifeFlight®
Critical Care Transport Services. LifeFlight®
is staffed by highly trained medical professionals who are ready
to respond at a moment's notice, providing critical care to children
and neonates during transport via ground ambulance, helicopter or
fixed-wing aircraft. LifeFlight® brings
seriously ill children to Miami Children's Hospital from hospitals
throughout Florida as well as in South and Central America, and
the Caribbean.
Total
Family Care
Miami Children's Hospital embraces a family centered approach to
care. Parents and siblings are welcome 24 hours a day and are encouraged
to stay overnight in the unit to form bonds with the newborn and
learn care techniques, procedures and adjust to their infant's schedule.
The NICU team
fully understands the importance of providing support and care not
only for the patient, but also for the entire family. This is accomplished
through a multidisciplinary team effort that includes our highly
trained and experienced critical care physicians and nurses, as
well as full-time psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers,
child life specialists, patient representatives and clergy.
Miami Children's
Hospital NICU staff assesses and provides for each family's special
needs in ways that go beyond the ordinary. From the time of admission
continuously through to discharge, the team involves families in
care decisions and works to ensure that all members of the family
understand the care plan and receive the support they need to get
through the crisis. The goal is to promote the rapid recovery of
critically ill children and neonates, and to help families cope
with the challenge and stress of a child's critical illness.
Going
Home
At Miami Children's Hospital, discharge planning begins the day
the infant is admitted. Experience has shown that continuity of
care is a critical factor in a neonate's developmental potential.
Thus parents are taught techniques to support their child's care
while in the hospital, so that they can gain skill and confidence
under the guidance of the medical team.
Ongoing
Support for Premature Infants
Babies born prematurely may be predisposed to developmental delays
in the early years of their lives. That's why Miami Children's Hospital
created the Sequential Tracking Evaluation Program (STEP). This
special program offers step-by-step interdisciplinary evaluation
of the ongoing developmental needs of infants during and after their
stay in the NICU. The STEP team carefully evaluates each baby's
development during the first critical years using an innovative
approach of simultaneous evaluations and parent questionnaires.
For more information, please call 305-669-5817.
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