Santa Clara Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) clinical nurses have taken extraordinary nursing care to help benefit brain growth and development.
NICU newborns are at higher risk for neurodevelopmental delays. In alignment with our mission to support our communities and promote a safe environment, NICU clinical nurses have determined the need to participate in a yearly Read-a-thon program initiative to promote healthy brain development through reading. Santa Clara Chief Nurse Executive Stacy Alves, DNP, MS, RN, NEA-BC, describes the NICU team as shining examples of what makes Kaiser Permanente great. “They have taken the empirical evidence around developmental needs of pre-term babies in the intensive care setting, integrated that with our nursing theory of Caring Science to create a reading program that meets the holistic needs of our babies and their families.”
Reading to the babies has received praise from parents, with one baby born at 23 weeks sharing, “I loved the reading program. It was great for bonding and a great tool to build familiarity with my voice for my daughter. We continue to read to her.”
The Santa Clara team presented their reading program at the National Association of Neonatal Nurses conference to spread this best practice beyond the walls of our organization, and their participation in the read-a-thon has been featured on the local news.