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“Sound is an issue for babies, so my primary focus was to get as much sound abatement as we could get,” says Chadwick. That led to the selection of noraplan environcare ™, to be used in the unit’s 10 nurseries and corridors.
Working now in the enhanced space she helped to create, Chadwick says, “On a day-to-day basis, our environment is quieter.”
The hospital’s busy level III Regional NICU, seeing 675 to 700 patients a year, operated for decades without any major renovations. “We made small updates, like paint color, when we could, but the NICU just wasn’t the focus in the past,” says LeeAnn Chadwick, RN, MSN, manager of the NICU. “It reached the point that the space itself wasn’t supporting us with the functionality we needed to do our jobs to the best of our ability. So, we looked at getting a major project done.”
Women’s and Children’s Director Connie Downing and Chadwick worked to get a $1 million renovation approved, which included 10 nurseries, sleep rooms, waiting rooms, corridors and breast pump rooms.
“My former co-manager, Dawn, and I became semi-project managers, along with our engineering folks,” says Chadwick. “We travelled to Hill-Rom, a provider of medical technologies and products, and, with staff members, our director and the Hill-Rom staff, designed the rooms ourselves with RoomBuilder®. I pulled the nora® brochure while I was at Hill-Rom on a previous visit, and I proceeded to contact our local nora rep. The rep delivered a great presentation, and at that time, I knew the floor needed to be in our NICU, as it addressed my biggest concern: sound abatement.”
Chadwick continues, “Our huge focus with this renovation was the developmental maturation of our babies. When you have hard floor tiles, hard laminate headwalls and hard metal tin-pan ceiling tiles, everything echoes. Sound is an issue for babies, so my primary focus was to get as much sound abatement as we could get.”
The loud sounds of equipment were also a concern in the NICU. “As a staff nurse, I would walk out to my car and still feel the sound vibrations from equipment we use, such as a high-frequency oscillating ventilator, which can sound like a soft jackhammer.”
After deciding to use nora for its acoustical benefits, Chadwick and a group of staff members also designed what they envisioned for the floor. “I thought it would be great to incorporate our logo into the floor in the entrance/landing and in every patient room,” she shares.
For the hallways, Chadwick took inspiration from an installation she saw on the nora website: Alabama Children’s Hospital. She says, “They had this really natural wave pattern down their hallway, and I thought that would be beautiful in our unit.” Additionally, butterflies from the unit trademark serve as a way-finding tool, leading visitors from the elevators to the unit doors. When it came to the installation of the floor, Chadwick recalled, “It just so happened that the Birth Center had a low census at that point, so in a matter of hours, we moved our entire unit down there and told the installers they had two days to get the flooring done. And they did it!”
Working now in the enhanced space she helped to create, Chadwick says, “On a day-to-day basis, our environment is quieter. All in all, we’re happy with the flooring and are thrilled with the added individualization our trademark bear has given the unit.”
