NICU room (neonatal intensive care unit) is a special place to care for newborns who require close supervision by medical personnel. Usually babies who are treated in the NICU room are born with health problems, for example born prematurely or born with congenital defects.
Like the emergency unit (ER), the NICU room is a quick response unit. This room is a special treatment room that provides facilities and infrastructure to overcome and prevent various conditions that can endanger the safety of newborns with health problems.
Various Equipments in the NICU Room
The NICU room is equipped with various medical devices to support the intensive care of newborns. The following are the equipment you can find in the NICU room:
1. Incubator
An incubator is a small bed like a crib made of transparent hard plastic. This tool is useful for protecting babies from various causes of infection, as well as keeping their bodies warm.
Around the incubator, there are various medical devices that are ready to be used to treat critical conditions and to maintain the stability of the baby's condition.
2. Light therapy device
Light therapy or phototherapy is done to treat babies who are jaundiced due to high bilirubin levels. Through light therapy, the form of bilirubin is changed so that it can be excreted from the body through urine. That way, the levels are expected to return to normal.
3. Ventilator
A ventilator or breathing apparatus is used to help breathing newborns who have breathing problems or problems with their lungs. This device will be connected to a thin tube that is inserted into the baby's airway through his nose or mouth.
4. Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP)
In addition to the ventilator, there are also other breathing apparatus called continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP). This tool is used for babies who can still breathe on their own but need help. This tool is connected to a small tube that is inserted into the nose.
5. Feeding tubes (feed hose)
This tool is inserted into the baby's stomach through the mouth or nose to distribute breast milk (ASI) or formula milk.
6. Infusion hose
Intravenous tubes are used to help administer medications and fluids that the baby needs. Usually an IV tube is attached to a vein in the baby's arm or hand.
7. Monitor
All babies who are cared for in the NICU are connected to monitors. This monitor serves to display the baby's heart rate, blood pressure, breathing, temperature, and oxygen levels.
Apart from being equipped with medical equipment, the NICU room is also supervised by a number of medical officers, including special nurses for the NICU, general practitioners, pediatricians, pediatricians, neonatologists, and other related specialists.
Rules to Know in the NICU Room
The NICU room is a sterile area that is not allowed to be entered by just anyone, including the parents of the babies being cared for. In order to keep the NICU room sterile, the hospital provides soap or water hand sanitizer, masks, and special clothing to ensure that visitors entering the NICU do not carry germs.
Each hospital has a different policy in limiting the number of visitors and hours of visits to the NICU room. This rule is enforced so that babies treated in the NICU are not disturbed by noise.
Conditions of Babies that Must Enter the NICU
There are various conditions that require babies to be admitted to the NICU, but lung failure in premature babies is the most common cause that requires intensive care in the NICU.
Some conditions for babies who need to enter the NICU:
Neonatal respiratory distress syndrome (RDS)Neonatal respiratory distress syndrome is a condition in which there is respiratory distress in premature infants caused by a lack of surfactant in the lungs. Without this substance, the lungs cannot expand properly, so the baby cannot breathe properly.
In this condition, the newborn requires a breathing apparatus or a ventilator available in the NICU room. Infection With treatment in the NICU room, newborns with infections can be treated intensively and given drugs through an IV. In the event of complications or emergency conditions, the baby can be immediately treated with complete medical equipment in the NICU room. Jaundice Treatment in the NICU will make it easier for babies to get a series of therapies, both with radiation and drugs, to deal with the jaundice they are experiencing. In addition to the three conditions above, babies with congenital diseases, babies born with low weight, triplets, babies experiencing problems during delivery, and babies showing signs of health problems at birth also need to be treated in the NICU. If your baby has to get treatment in the NICU room, make sure you have complete information about the facilities and the rules applied by the hospital to visit the NICU room. You can get this information from doctors or from staff at the hospital.
