From Rough Waters to Smooth Sailing: NICU Population Management Model

Patient and family navigation is an emerging strategy to address the complexity of care experienced during prolonged hospitalizations and extended follow-up care. An innovative navigator program for extremely premature infants was developed and implemented in an 85 bed level IV neonatal unit. The family navigator model addresses the psychological needs of the neonatal families by providing individualized anticipatory guidance and support as the family moves through their child's hospital experience. Program experts titled Neonatal Family Navigators serve as a consistent liaison to facilitate information sharing, offer education and promote a multidisciplinary team approach with the neonatal patient and family at the center of the team. This program demonstrated positive outcomes including improved family satisfaction metrics, decreased length of stay, and enhanced the overall coping mechanisms of families who experience an extended neonatal hospital stay.