Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU)
Our Neonatal Intensive Care Unit is a 40 bed unit, the largest pediatric
intensive care unit facility in Central Virginia, providing a full range
of services for critically ill newborns. We serve as a regional referral
center for the state; providing transportation of critically ill newborns
from regional hospitals. A multidisciplinary team collaborates to provide
care to newborns with a variety of medical and surgical needs, including
Extra-Corporeal Membrane Oxygenation (EXMO), through a family-centered
care model of practice.
History
- 25 years ago, the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit was founded by Barry Kirkpatrick, MD in response to a need in the community for a place that would provide a full range of services to critically ill newborns and their families.
- The NICU at VCU Health System was one of the first units of its kind in the Commonwealth of Virginia and was the only NICU in Central Virginia for fifteen years.
- The NICU at VCU Health System provided the first regional transport system for sick newborn infants in Central Virginia.
- The NICU at VCU Health System became the source for continuing medical education for physicians in the region by providing on-site education at the local hospitals in the skills to recognize and stabilize high-risk newborn infants.
- The NICU at VCU Health System is the largest Intensive Care Unit at MCV Hospitals... caring for the smallest of patients.
- The NICU at VCU Health System is the largest NICU in Richmond, and in Central Virginia as well.
- This NICU treats 400 - 500 patients per year. At our peak, prior to the development of community-based NICUs, we treated 900 infants a year.
- The NICU at VCU Health System is a state of the art regional referral center providing a full range of medical and surgical services for both the extremely premature infant as well as some of the sickest and most challenging newborns.
- The NICU at VCU Health System remains the site for training of several hundred pediatric, obstetric, anesthesia, and family practice residents as well as many nursing and paramedical students.
- The NICU at VCU Health System was the first to provide ventilator care to infants.
- We were among the first to be involved in a large mult-centered trial that tested the use of surfactant, a liquid made from calf lung extract that was administered via the breathing tube of infants who were ill on breathing machines. The liquid assisted in lubricating even the tiniest parts of the lung, allowing for adequate gas exchange. The administration of surfactants of this nature is now routine nation-wide and has decreased mortality and morbidity tremendously in the neonatal population.
- The NICU at VCU Health System was the first in the Commonwealth and one of the first in the country to provide ECMO (Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation), a lifesaving therapy that can take over the function of the heart and lung for a time of healing.
- We are the only NICU in Central Virginia that utilized Nitric Oxide, a gas that serves to dilate the pulmonary beds and thus improve oxygenation and ventilation in the critically ill patient.
- We were the first NICU to begin using high frequency ventilation to promote health in the tiniest of babies who have been born just at the edge of viability. This technology helps us avert problems faces by many NICUs with use of conventional types of ventilation.
- We continue to be on the leading edge of providing these high-tech services to many hundreds of infants in Central Virginia each year. Many of these children have been transported from other area hospitals because of our expertise in managing the critically ill.
- The nursing staff are well-educated on the importance of providing age-appropriate care to the extremely premature. This includes such interventions as place the infant in a quiet, dimly lit environment where they are "nested" to simulate the confinement experienced in the mother's womb.
- We support parents desires to breast feed even the smallest of preterm infants and have a large group of Certified Lactation Consultants on staff.
- We encourage parents to be involved in their infants care and support their endeavors to provide "Kangaroo" care to their infants. This is where a parent holds their infant skin to skin or chest to chest.
- We empower families to become active in assuming care of their infants early on. This allows them to become comfortable with the technology their child may require upon discharge. Our parents are now caring for very small stable feeding and growing infants at home with follow-up support. When we feel the child no longer requires the hospital environment and the parents are knowledgeable of the care their infant requires we are progressive in getting them home, recognizing the home environment attributes.
- We envision a major transformation of the NICU during the next eighteen months as we will be renovating and redesigning. We are cognizant of the importance of an environment that is developmentally appropriate for the preterm infant. Special attention must be paid to light, sound, and potentially noxious stimulation to the preterm infant. It is our goal to create an environment that not only meets the needs of our infants, but of their parents and extended family as well.
