The Kingston Hospital Neonatal Unit
Welcome to the Kingston Hospital Neonatal Unit
At the Kingston Hospital Neonatal Unit, we aim to give the very best standard of care to you and your baby/babies. We have a permanent team of highly trained and experienced staff who understand how stressful it is to be separated from your baby. We are happy to talk to you about progress and changes in care and treatment whenever you visit.
As we are a Teaching Hospital, we also have nurses and doctors who are undertaking specialist courses. Most of these are fully qualified practitioners who are gaining additional qualifications. Trainees are always supervised by a senior member of staff.
While on the Neonatal Unit, your baby will be cared for in one of three main nurseries, depending on their individual level of care. These are called; ‘Pink’ which is our Intensive Care nursery, ‘Green’, our High dependency nursery and ‘Blue’, our special care nursery. We also have our isolation nursery ‘Lilac’. Your baby will progress through the main nurseries as their clinical picture changes.
For each shift, the names of the neonatal staff allocated to your baby’s nursery are displayed on the white board behind the nurse’s station. The names of the Nurse-in-Charge of the shift, and Doctors “on call” are also displayed as well as the named Consultant for each week. The Unit is staffed 24 hours a day by Neonatal Nurses and Doctors.
The layout of our Kingston Hospital Neonatal Unit requires staff to step out of the nursery for many reasons. For example; to prepare feeds, check medication, and answer telephones.
We expect staff to inform you if they are leaving the nursery.
Please try not to worry if there is no one in the Nursery when you arrive. There is an emergency bell in each nursery for staff and parents, and you will be shown the location of this. Please ask if you have not been shown.
The Kingston Hospital Neonatal Unit Staff
If you have any concerns or constructive comments, please ask our Matron, Marie Richter or the Nurse in Charge of the shift who will be happy help with any queries.
You are welcome to visit your baby 24 hours a day. Each day there is a ward round which starts at approximately 09.00am lead by a Consultant which parents are invited to.
This is an opportunity for you to feel more involved in your baby’s care and express any concerns or worries you may have as parents. We strongly recommend you attend as many ward rounds as possible so that you feel fully informed about your baby’s neonatal journey and be part of the decision making progress.
The ward round is confidential, we ask parents to wear headphones when staff are discussing other babies in the same nursery as your baby. We will then ask you to remove the headphones when it is your baby’s turn to be reviewed.
Please note;
Staff change shift between the hours of 07.15-07.45 & 19.15-19.45. Like ward round, you will be asked to wear headphones if you are present in the Nurseries at the time of the staff handover; this is again to maintain confidentiality.
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