Connecting NICU Mothers to their Babies

A little over a year ago, one of my staff nurses found a system called the NICView that allows mothers to see their babies 24/7 using a webcam technology.   This seemed like it was going to be an easy thing to implement for our unit, except for the money it was going to cost to implement, I thought it would be an easy sell to get it put into place.   Who doesn't want a mother who has a baby in the  Neonatal Intensive Care Unit to have access to see her baby all the time?

Here is a link that explains what the NICView System is: http://www.natus.com/index.cfm?page=products_1&crid=1027

What I found out was it was not as easy as I had thought.   I had to use a lot of my negotiation skills to get this approved and then the staff nurse who had the idea took this to our hospital volunteers and they decided they would fund this remarkable system for our unit.   
A policy had to be written, a consent had to be written and we had to work through all the implementation pieces with our Information Systems department.  

In November, we implemented the NICView and it has been a great success story.  It is so wonderful to hear the stories of the mothers with babies in our NICU saying how it brings them peace when they are not with their babies.  They can turn on their phone and see their baby and it allows them to fall asleep easier knowing their baby is ok.   

To Amy, RN who brought the idea to our unit, thank you!  To our Volunteers who helped us purchase the system, thank you!  To our Information Systems team who helped with the implementation, thank you!   To our Risk Managers and Legal Services, thank you!  To my Security Department, thank you!   WE love this system!  Optimal Healing Environment, that is what it is all about!