Volunteers fund renovation of NICU parent rooms

The staff at Children's Hospital know that having a sick or premature infant can be a challenging situation for the family. The hospital strives to improve this circumstance in any way possible, such as by increasing the family's comfort.

Children's Hospital renovated the Haslam Family Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) parent rooms in January. Both parent rooms, which are located in the NICU, are for parents whose infant will soon be released from the hospital. Parents stay overnight in the rooms, nicknamed "rooming in," with their infant as a "practice run" of caring for their child by themselves; after 24/7 care from the NICU staff, this transition can understandably seem overwhelming and scary to parents. Hospital staff is available right outside the parent room doors if parents have questions or need help. NICU staff train parents on the proper way to care for their new baby before and during their overnight stay in a parent room. "Rooming in" with their infant instills the parents' confidence in their ability to care for their child.

Parents typically stay in the room for one night, but parents of infants with more complex medical problems may room in for up to a week. The parent rooms host the parents of about 600 infants each year.

Before the recent renovation, the parent rooms looked rather institutional. Redecorating the parent rooms will help families feel more comfortable in a home-like setting. The NICU staff and Administration requested funding and assistance from the hospital volunteers to redecorate the rooms. Then the hospital's Volunteer Services staff enlisted the help of Joyce Simms and Gail Reed, two Fantasy of Trees volunteers with interior design experience, to help with the project. The rooms received new paint, window treatments, furniture, bed linens and a special curtain to hide the hospital outlets and oxygen connections on one wall.

The NICU staff will continually do evaluations with parents to see if there is anything further they can do to make the their stay more comfortable.