A young patient’s treatment depends not only on a doctor’s expertise and lifesaving technologies, but also on the most precise follow-up by staff — the very reason the specialized intensive care units at Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC offer incomparable care for even the toughest cases.
Whether they’re in one of the 79 beds in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), the Cardiac Intensive Care Unit (CICU), or the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU), our young patients are in private rooms with natural light flowing in from the windows, and with ample space for a parent to turn a couch into a bed.
Each room is laid out in a similar way for a very important reason: In a world where seconds count, doctors, nurses and other health care professionals can move in seamlessly for quick, efficient care.
Moreover, in each room, a “digital dashboard” is available to the medical team for patient information. Health care providers can view radiology images, tests, procedures, assessments and medications.
There’s more:
- Large breakaway sliding glass doors allow medical teams to work around the patient while entering and leaving the room.
- Patient beds are placed in the center of the room to allow doctors and nurses to reach the child from all sides.
- Monitors, equipment, air and gases are on adjustable booms (not on the head wall) to allow for 360-degree access to the patient.
- Each room has its own medication and computer cart.
- Listen to what you can’t hear: a sophisticated keeper of vital signs and other significant data is a quiet electronic screen that doesn’t beep, but is linked to mobile, hands-free communication alerts carried by each member of the health care team.
- The medical team stays in touch without disturbing the patient or his family by checking through a viewing window with a monitor that mirrors the monitor inside the room.
- Pass-through servers minimize the in-and-out activity of nonmedical professionals in the PICU.
On site: A linear accelerator and PET/CT scanner
Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU)
With 28 rooms on the eighth floor (25 single-bed rooms and three with two beds each), the NICU is designed to care for newborns with the most complex surgical and medical conditions. One of UPMC’s renowned services is the extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO), a procedure that supports infants who have severe circulatory problems.
Cardiac Intensive Care Unit (CICU)
These 12 private rooms on the fourth floor (next to the cath labs and open-heart operating rooms) are specially designed for cases ranging from babies whose heart defects have been repaired to toddlers with heart transplants to older children who are sustained for weeks on mechanical heart pumps.
With access to the latest technology, doctors can operate on the spot, and are able to isolate patients who have recently received heart transplants.
Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU)
On the fifth floor, the PICU wraps around an entire city block — from 44th to 45th streets — providing spacious, private rooms with 36 beds. Nearby is an airy family waiting room, as well as sibling waiting space and private consultation rooms.