Inside Duke Medicine
DUH opens new Transitional Care Nursery
posted October 27th, 2010Following a ribbon-cutting ceremony to celebrate the opening of Duke Hospital's new Transitional Care Nursery, the nursery opened to patients on Oct. 26.
The new nursery provides necessary medical care for high risk infants and is designed to reflect Duke’s commitment to family centered care, as well as the developmental needs of convalescing babies.
Families will have direct access to TCN with video monitored entry and the space will accommodate parental presence at all times. The larger area also provides families with chairs at each bedside.
Improved programs for families include a comprehensive discharge program, a parent to parent mentoring program and parent classes.
Administering to the babies' developmental needs, the space features cycled lighting mimicking the four phases of the day, sound reduction and larger bed spaces, which allow for developmentally appropriate toys.
A multidisciplinary team of developmentally-focused providers, including pediatricians, neonatologists, nurse practitioners and therapists work together to address the medical, feeding and developmental needs of patients. The same providers staff the special infant care (SICC) outpatient follow-up clinic to ease the transition home for babies and their families.