Designing an Orientation for Staff Moving to a Single Family Room Newborn Intensive Care Unit

Abstract 

For the past decade, a significant practice change has occurred in the provision of neonatal care. Newborn intensive care units (NICUs) are with increasing regularity moving toward incorporating the single family room (SFR) concept into neonatal unit design. The amount of change that a staff may experience when moving from a “baby barn” to a SFR NICU can be overwhelming. The intent of this article is to discuss the concept of planned change as it pertains to transitioning to the SFR model of care, to illuminate why staff may resist change, and to strategize methods deemed useful to leaders assisting staff not just “surviving change” but “thriving with change.” This article will conclude with strategies from the perspective of an educator that may prove beneficial when designing an orientation for staff as they transition to a SFR NICU.

Keywords: Orientation, Single family room (SFR) design, Newborn intensive care unit (NICU), Change, Staff education