Neonatal Intensive Care (NICU)
When your newborn arrives earlier than expected or with health challenges, the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at Providence Sacred Heart Children’s Hospital is ready to tend to all their needs.
Our neonatologists and other care providers specialize in treating our tiniest and sickest babies. They have the experience and advanced technology to help your newborn have a fighting start to life. But we know that knowledgeable doctors and sophisticated equipment are only part of what infants need. We make sure all babies in the NICU get plenty of love and we care for them as if they were our own, with around-the-clock attention and monitoring.
We also make certain that we are taking excellent care of you. We understand your worries and know you will have a lot of questions. We keep you informed, offer support, and allow you to spend as much time with your baby as possible. You will be invited to be part of daily care team rounds where you will hear how your baby is progressing and can ask questions.
To provide you with a break, Ronald McDonald Family Rooms are on-site and include kitchenettes, lounge area, sleeping rooms and laundry facilities. There is also a Ronald McDonald House location a few blocks away for families that live outside the Greater Spokane area.
Sacred Heart is the highest level of NICU, level 4, we treat all types of medical conditions affecting newborns including breathing difficulties, infection, and defects present at birth. We also offer surgical services, pediatric cardiology, and care for chronic medical conditions.
Our treatment is based on your baby’s needs and your needs as a family. We put special emphasis on education and your involvement in your baby’s care.
Our care teams want you to be confident in the care that you and your baby are receiving. One way we are doing this is through a text messaging platform called Twistle that helps guide you through your baby’s time in the NICU.
You will be sent a text message within 24 hours of your baby being admitted to the NICU with a welcome message and short video to introduce you to our NICU. You will then receive follow up text messages on a regular cadence with valuable information, reminders, useful education on premature infants, taking care of yourself, and bringing baby home sent directly to your mobile phone, computer, or tablet. Twistle helps keep your baby’s care on track and reminds you of what you will need to do before your baby can go home.
A team of people will help care for your baby and your family, including:
- Breastfeeding consultants
- Case managers
- Chaplains
- Child Life
- Clinical educators
- Lactation
- Neonatologist – providers that specialize in the care of premature infants
- NICU Nannies
- Nurses
- Nurse Techs
- Nutrition center, registered dieticians
- Pediatric specialty care including cardiology, neurology, surgery
- Pharmacists
- Registered dietitians
- Social workers
- Therapists – occupational, physical, respiratory, speech and music
Beads of Courage, Inc. is a 501 (c)(3) non-profit organization committed to strengthening resilience and promoting the well-being of children coping with serious illness, their families, and the clinicians who care for them. Beads of Courage, Inc. achieves its mission through the development and implementation of innovative Arts-in-Medicine programs. The Beads of Courage Program is a resilience-based intervention designed to support and strengthen children and families coping with serious illness. Through the program members tell their story using colorful beads as meaningful symbols of courage that they receive to honor and acknowledge each step of their treatment journey. Beads are given according to a program specific bead guide. For milestones in their treatment journey, they receive handmade one-of-a-kind glass beads that are donated by members of the International Society of Glass Beadmakers (ISGB).