NICU

Our 20-bed Level III NICU and 9-bed step-down unit provides quality, family-centered care to premature and critically ill newborns using a multidisciplinary team approach consisting of nurses, neonatal nurse practitioners, physicians, respiratory therapists, social workers and case managers.

We are a regional referral center and care for the sickest newborns in Vermont and Upstate New York. We provide family-centered developmental care to unstable and critically ill newborns with cardiac, respiratory, sepsis, prematurity, genetic and additional multi-system problems. Our parents are welcome at their child's bedside 24 hours a day and during rounds. We encourage parents to hold their babies as much as possible and we give parents opportunities to make as many decisions as possible concerning their child's care.

Our nurses work closely with physicians to develop a plan of care for each patient, and they have a high degree of autonomy as they manage whole family care, assessments and documentation. We care for the whole patient, from facilitating feeding to accompanying our patients to the OR and standing by while they have surgery

Our practice is evidence-based. We participate in the Vermont Oxford Network (VON) and continually improve our care through collaboration with NICUs across the world. We participate in VON research, as well as research initiated by our attending physicians. We are currently doing probiotics feeding and olfactory research.

Our nurses also have the opportunity to participate in the acute transport team with a nurse practitioner and a respiratory therapist. Fletcher Allen does 100 neonatal transports per year from outlying community hospitals.

For more information call Renee Dall at (802) 847-2819 or (800) 722-9922 or visit www.fletcherallen.org.

Neonatal ICU (NICU)

Orientation

RN orientation consists of 10 to 12 weeks on a full-time basis. During the first 6 to 8 weeks, the RN works closely with primary preceptors on the day shift. The RN then transitions to the shift she/he will be permanently assigned to, continuing to work closely with primary preceptors assigned to that same shift for the reminder of the orientation. Orientation is hospital-level and unit-level, clinical and didactic, and progresses from providing care for stable patients to providing acute care in this specialty setting. The Nurse Educator is very active throughout the orientation period, facilitating education to meet individual needs. Once orientation is complete, the new staff member is assigned a resource RN during each shift, as well as one mentor to provide continuing post-orientation support.