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Single-family room neonatal intensive care unit design: do patient outcomes actually change?

Journal of Perinatology volume 40, pages 867–874 (2020)Cite this article

Subjects

Abstract

Objective

This study examined outcomes in a single-family room neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) compared to an open bay within a public safety net hospital.

Study design

We included 9995 NICU encounters over 5 years pre and post move for a predominantly low SES population. Outcomes were length of stay (LOS), growth, time to first oral feeding, and incidence of sepsis. Analysis included regression models, interrupted time series, and growth models.

Results

LOS decreased over time in preterm infants both pre and post move, but increased post move for term/post-term infants (p < 0.001). First oral feeding decreased over time in both periods. A higher incidence of sepsis was found in the post period for term/post-term infants (p = 0.01).

Conclusion

Our analysis appropriately accounted for time trends. Few differences were observed. Changes in LOS for term/post-term infants should be further explored as well as the impact of NICU care patterns.

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Fig. 1
Fig. 2: Plot of the log of monthly time to first oral feed.

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Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful for the support of the following individuals at Parkland Health & Hospital System: Susan Partridge, RN, BSN, MBA, CCRC; Leticia A. Blea, MPA; Karen Watts, MSN, RN, NEA-BC; David Lopez, FACHE; and Frederick P. Cerise, MD, MPH. We also acknowledge the following individuals for their participation in the New Parkland Hospital Research Coalition: Kathy Okland, RN, MPH, EDAC, Independent Consultant; Kathy Harper, RN, MBA, EDAC, Independent Consultant; Juliet L. Rogers, PhD, MPH, Blue Cottage of CannonDesign; Tina Larsen, AIA, EDAC, LEED AP, Corgan; Doug Bazuin, MS, EDAC, Herman Miller Healthcare; Leslie Echols, IIDA, EDAC, Nora Systems; Cyndi McCullough, RN, MSN, EDAC, HDR; Lori McGilberry, Kilter LLC; Gena English, CHID, EDAC, RAS, University of Texas Southwestern; and Robert Agosta, Mitchell Design Inc.

Funding

This research was funded by HDR, as part of a larger collaborative study supported by the New Parkland Hospital Research Coalition.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. HDR, Inc, Omaha, NE, USA

    Susan E. Puumala, Renae K. Rich, Francesqca E. Jimenez & Jeri Brittin

  2. Parkland Health and Hospital System, Dallas, TX, USA

    Lonnie Roy, Regina Reynolds & Jackline G. Opollo

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  1. Susan E. Puumala
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  7. Jeri Brittin
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Susan E. Puumala.

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Conflict of interest

SEP, RKR, FEJ, and JB are employed by HDR, an architecture and engineering firm. The firm provided salary support for the authors but did not have any additional role in the study design, decision to publish, or preparation of this manuscript. LR, RR, and JGO declare no conflict of interest.

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Puumala, S.E., Rich, R.K., Roy, L. et al. Single-family room neonatal intensive care unit design: do patient outcomes actually change?. J Perinatol 40, 867–874 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41372-019-0584-6

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