Due to capacity problems, about 600 babies have to be moved to another Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) every year. Researchers from the University of Twente's CHOIR research centre, the Amalia Children's Hospital Nijmegen and the Emma Children's Hospital Amsterdam investigated an innovative solution. By deploying NICU nurses flexibly within the national NICU network, the number of neonatal transports can potentially be reduced by as much as 70% – a reduction of at least one patient transport per day.
The good news is that in the Netherlands as a whole, we have sufficient capacity to provide this critical form of care. But currently, babies are often moved when an NICU runs out of capacity. In addition to a lot of logistical hassle, this entails health risks for the child and an increased distance to the parents' place of residence. "The physical capacity of NICUs is usually not the problem, but the shortage of specialised nurses," says Gréanne Leeftink, first author of the study.
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