Kosair Children’s Hospital Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU)
In the Kosair Children’s Hospital neonatal intensive care unit, newborn care and family comfort are top priorities. Through family-centered care, we focus on including parents and family members in their baby’s medical care plan. Parents may spend as much time at their child’s bedside as they like. Siblings are welcome in the unit to spend time with their new brother or sister, except during cold and flu season.
The NICU serves both premature infants and babies born with conditions requiring advanced care or surgery. As one of the largest in the United States, the NICU is fully equipped with the latest technology and staffed by compassionate and well-trained professionals.
Special Support for NICU Families
Our Family-Centered Care Committee provides support services and resources to families with newborns in the NICU. Parent-to-parent support and family education are available to all of our families. Additional support services include:
- Pastoral care
- Social services
- Discharge planning and case management
- Family education about equipment use and newborn illnesses
- Scrapbooking classes
NICU Medical Services
The NICU at Kosair Children’s Hospital was the first in the region to provide its tiny patients with nitric oxide therapy and extracorporeal membranous oxygenation (ECMO), a heart and lung bypass machine. Other special services, capabilities and equipment available in the NICU include:
- Imaging services, such as radiology, CT and MRI
- Surgical services from all disciplines
- Medical services from all subspecialties
- Respiratory therapy
NICU Care Team
The NICU and 3N nursery are staffed by qualified teams of:
- Neonatalogists and specially trained nurse practitioners
- Registered nurses and licensed practical nurses
- Respiratory therapists
- Speech, occupational and physical therapists
- Pharmacists
- Clinical laboratory technicians
- Neonatal nutritionists
- Lactation consultants
- Developmental specialists
- Transport specialists
Features of the NICU
Physical features of the NICU include:
- A total of 97 beds
- Beds for critical and intensive care newborns
- Beds for infants who need specialized care but no longer require intensive care
- Kids Kare, a home-like setting for babies who require long-term care and/or are dependent on medical equipment
- Isolation rooms
- Newly designed private rooms featuring televisions and headphones, safes for storage of valuables and beds for parents (private rooms located in the Kosair Children’s Hospital NICU at Norton Hospital)
- Pedway access between Kosair Children’s Hospital and Norton Hospital
Explore a Virtual Tour of the NICU
Explore a Virtual Tour of Phase I NICU Renovations
