Saint Joseph Health System (SJHS) is excited to announce that its Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) has recently adopted an innovative webcam technology specifically designed for families to see their hospitalized infant whenever they wish, even if they are miles, or oceans, apart.
The technology, called NICVIEW, is a bedside camera that transmits live visual images of the baby through a secure and private closed system that families can access with their unique code and display on any internet-accessible device.
“We recognize how stressful it is for parents and other family members to have a hospitalized infant under any circumstance,” said Loretta Schmidt, SJHS Chief Nursing Officer. “The addition of this technology to our NICU underscores our goal of providing the highest level of patient and family-centered care,” she added.
For security and safety, none of the images are recorded or stored, and only the infant’s parents are given unique usernames and passwords to access the live stream video of their babies on their cell phones, tablets, laptops and/or desktop computers. The parents, in turn, may share access with family members near or far.
“Many parents have outside obligations, such as work or caring for other small children at home, that pull them away from the NICU,” said Schmidt. “But having the option to make a ‘virtual visit’ to the child’s bedside at any time eases the family’s concerns and enables them to bond with their newborn.”
The NICVIEW technology leads the way in providing live-streaming video for families with babies in the NICU and is currently serving families in approximately 90 hospitals across the U.S., with plans to serve families with children in hospital nurseries worldwide. During the past year alone, the NICVIEW technology enabled 3 million individual logins to participating NICUs in the U.S. from family members or invited viewers in 133 countries.
