Level II Harold and Margret Thomas Special Care Nursery

From monitoring vital signs to offering breathing assistance, the multidisciplinary team of experts at the Level II Harold and Margret Thomas Special Care Nursery are here for you. Using state-of-the-art technology and compassionate, integrated care, we will tend to your baby as we would care for our own.

Our Comprehensive Care Philosophy

Our goal is to provide family-centered, safe, and developmentally appropriate care in a supportive environment for your baby, you and your family. Our Developmental Support Team of nurses, doctors, nurse practitioners and developmental therapists assure your baby’s SCN experience is individualized for his or her specific needs.

We encourage you and your family to be involved in your baby’s care, every step of the way, which means you are always welcome.  You are the most important person in your baby’s life, so we invite you to participate in our morning rounds, during which, our multidisciplinary team discusses your baby’s plan of care. This ensures that you remain an essential part of your baby's health care team.

At the Level II Harold and Margret Thomas Special Care Nursery, you can rest assured that your baby is receiving the most advanced, evidence-based medical and nursing care available.  Along with treating issues related to prematurity, infection, apnea  and more, we also teach safe sleeping practices and  kangaroo care, a special nurturing technique that allows babies to receive the human, skin-to-skin contact they desperately need during this fragile time.  Helping baby achieve regulated breathing patterns, stable heart rate, more rapid weight gain and ultimately earlier discharges.

Identification

Parents must provide the ID-band number when calling for information or when entering the SCN.
Grandparents will also need the ID-band number to visit without the baby’s parent. At the time of your baby’s discharge, you must show your hospital ID bracelet. You may be asked to furnish identification at any time.

Scrub

For the safety of all of the babies in the Harold and Margret Thomas Special Care Nursery, upon entering the unit everyone must scrub at the sink. You will see the sink as you enter the nursery. Each time you enter the nursery you will need to wash/scrub your hands. Directions are posted at the sink.

Visiting

For your baby’s comfort, we recommend no more than 4 at the bedside at one time.

Please keep in mind that depending on your baby status, your baby’s condition may require staff to reduce the number of people who can be at the bedside.

Please see hospital visiting guidelines for the most current visiting guidelines for Maternity and Special Care Nursery.

Your Comfort

Our rooms offer furniture that can convert to a bed or recliner, if you should need to rest while visiting with your baby. The family lounge is equipped with a television, microwave, coffee maker, refrigerator, computer with Internet access and some refreshments.

Please feel free to bring a lunch or just take some time for yourself in the visitors lounge. Food and drink are not permitted in the baby’s room. Restrooms are located by the waiting room outside the front entrance of the Special Care Nursery.

Vending machines are located by the front entrance of the nursery and also on the ground floor near the cafeteria.

After Hours

The hospital’s main doors close at 8 p.m. After 8 p.m., please enter through the Emergency Department entrance and visit security, just to the left of the entrance, for a visitor pass. If you are already inside the hospital, we will provide a visitor pass to permit you to move around the hospital after hours.

Ready to go home

Once your baby is discharged, our team provides follow-up services to ensure that he or she is developing well:

• High-risk follow up/pediatric developmental assessment and treatment team – consists of an occupational therapist, a physical therapist, an audiologist, a speech therapist, a social worker and a developmental pediatrician or neonatologist. The developmental progress of a baby referred to this team is evaluated four to six months after the mother’s due date.
• Home health nurse – a registered nurse who will make home follow-up visits after your baby is discharged to assist you and your family in transitioning your baby into the home environment
• Neonatology follow-up clinic – consultant services for Special Care Nursery graduates who go home on oxygen, weigh less than 1700 grams (about 4 pounds), or who are referred by their private pediatrician or the attending neonatologist