NICU - Infection Control

All newborn babies immune systems are vulnerable and even more so if they are born prematurely or are poorly. 
Here at Royal Preston Neonatal Intensive Care Unit we are a team, so it’s important we all work together to ensure our hygiene practices are of the highest standard to prevent and reduce the risk of infections to your baby. 

One very simple way of reducing the risks of infections is by keeping our hands clean to prevent germs from spreading; we can do this by using alcohol gel and washing our hands. 

On entering the unit please clean your hands at the sanitiser stations on the wall, we then also ask you to wash your hands at the sink each time you enter your baby's room, there are also sanitiser bottles by your baby's cotside. 

Sometimes mothers and or babies can be diagnosed with an infection that can be easily transmitted to other baby's, family or staff through various routes. To ensure everyone is kept safe we may nurse baby's in a separate area on the unit to reduce the risk of spreading the infection. We have a dedicated Isolation room on the neonatal unit and staff will be wearing protective clothing such as gowns, masks and gloves dependent on the type of infection. We appreciate this can be very scary and our aim is to ensure you are always fully informed and involved in your baby's care as much as possible. 

Please watch this short video demonstrating hygiene practices for our all parents and visitors.

THE FOLLOWING STEPS CAN SIGNIFICANTLY REDUCE INFECTION RISKS TO YOUR BABY

The following steps can significantly reduce infection risks to your baby

• Please always remove your coats before touching your baby - Lockers are located in the sitting area
• Always ensure sleeves are rolled up
• Remove any watches, bracelets and stoned rings before touching your baby
• False nails and nail polish do pose an infection risk to babies - To reduce the risk of infection to your baby nails are best kept short and without any coatings

Check out NHS UK's step-by-step handwashing guide.

Only use the room sinks for washing your hands - Please DO NOT throw water from the nappy bowl, bath or unused milk down the handwashing sinks.

ALWAYS soak up nappy bowl water with tissue and dispose in the yellow bins. The nurses will dispose of your baby's bath water for you. All unused milk goes in the milk bins

There are several different types of bins on the unit - Here is a breakdown of there use

General domestic waste:

• Used hand towels
• Small quantities of food waste
• Non recyclable materials

Clinical waste:

• Dirty Nappies
• Cotton Buds, Cotton Wool, Gauze swabs used for baby's care

We also have milk bottle bins in the Special Care room and High Dependency room. All bottles of milk (Expressed breast milk and formula) should be disposed of in these bins only. If there is not a bin in the room ask a member of staff to dispose of the milk for you.

All hospital linen is disposed of separately to be cleaned, please ask a member of staff and they will dispose of this for you.

Ways you can also help to protect your baby

• If you, your partner or supporting visitor have a cough, a cold, an infection, a weeping coldsore or have been exposed to chickenpox, then please call the nurse looking after your baby before coming to the unit and they will advise you on the best course of action to keep your baby safe and protected.
   
• Regularly take home and wash your baby’s own dirty clothes and linen. Cuddly toys should be kept out of the incubator / cot to prevent germs spreading and adhere to safer sleep practices; they should also be washed weekly on a high temperature.
   
• Always clean the surface you are using to carry out your baby's nappy changes with green clinell wipes before and after, wipes are in each room
   
• If your baby has a pacifier they will have a little pot on their cot side filled with milton solution that gets changed every 24 hrs. In our expressing room we have a ready made milton solution you can use to refill the pot and there is a board that will tell you when the solution was made up that day. Ensure all pacifiers are regularly sanitised in the solution..
   
• If your hands become sore, inflamed, broken through the increase in washing then please let a member of staff know. Cream is available at the sink or you can use your own - Please only use after contact with your baby to avoid any irritations as baby's skin is very sensitive.
   
• Keep yourself informed of our infection prevention and control practices and outcomes - our performance board is on the unit corridor displaying our unit monthly audit results