Abstract
The environment of care has a lasting impact on the patients, families, and caregivers who experience it. A newborn intensive care unit (NICU) is typically in use for 10–30 years, over which time decisions made during its design will have human and financial impacts far beyond the initial cost. Good planning is crucial, yet most participants in the planning process have little experience designing a NICU and may be driven as much by what they do not like in their existing NICU as by the evidence and experience reported by others. Standards generated by a group of experts in multiple disciplines can inform these planners, as well as the agencies developing building codes for NICUs. Now in its ninth iteration, these Recommended Standards continue to be refined as new evidence and experience accumulates, along with new guidance for couplet care in the NICU and for detection of latent safety risks prior to occupancy.
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References
White RD, Smith JA, Shepley MM. Committee to establish Recommended Standards for Newborn ICU Design. J Perinatol. 2013;33 Suppl 1:S2–16.
Acknowledgements
Participants from the Ninth Consensus Conference on Newborn ICU Design, March 5, 2019, Clearwater Beach, Florida are listed in the “Appendix”.
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This article is published as part of a supplement sponsored by Philips.
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RDW has received consulting fees from Philips HealthTech, owns equity in Mednax, and received lecture fees from P+G (Pampers). The author also holds patents for two products (not for sale).
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Appendix: Consensus Committee on Recommended Design Standards for Advanced Neonatal Care
Appendix: Consensus Committee on Recommended Design Standards for Advanced Neonatal Care
Jesse Bender, Joy Browne, Michael S. Dunn, Skip Gregory, James Harrell, Debra Harris, Carol B. Jaeger, Beverley H. Johnson, Carole Kenner, Kathleen J.S. Kolberg, Von Lambert, George A. Little, Gilbert L. Martin, Lynne Wilson Orr, M. Kathleen Philbin, Kate Robson, Mardelle McCuskey Shepley, Judith A. Smith, Tammy S. Thompson, Scott Waltz, Robert D. White. Valuable technical assistance to the committee was also provided by Mark Rea and Jack Evans.
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White, R.D., on behalf of the Consensus Committee on Recommended Design Standards for Advanced Neonatal Care. Recommended standards for newborn ICU design, 9th edition. J Perinatol 40 (Suppl 1), 2–4 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41372-020-0766-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41372-020-0766-2
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