Published on August 30, 2010
PepsiCo Foundation Helps RVMC NICU with Grant
Neonatal Intensive Care Unit Discharge and Transition Class to Receive $5,000
Babies born premature often need extra care, even after they leave the hospital. That is why the Rogue Valley Medical Center (RVMC) Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) provides a special NICU Discharge and Transition class to all NICU families. Pepsi Cola of Medford has recognized the importance of this class with a grant of $5,000 to help the NICU nurse educators develop new learning materials.
“We at Pepsi Cola of Medford are privileged to help support such an important program that touches so many lives right here in our own community,” said Scott McGowan, Pepsi Cola of Medford representative. “To have a NICU program so dedicated to serving and helping newborns and their families is a true blessing,” he added. The grant is part of the Pepsi Refresh Project which is helping to build a stronger community. “It made sense to team up with the NICU at RVMC. We are honored to have this opportunity," McGowan said.
Debbie Evans, RN, who coordinates the 90-minute class and teaches it with two other nurses, says the Pepsi Cola grant would make a difference. “We are very thankful to Pepsi Cola of Medford. It’s so important for parents to know how to care for their premature children. With this grant we can provide even better learning materials for our parents.”
The NICU at RVMC cares for infants born as early as 24 weeks and as little as 1 pound 2 ounces. Many of these babies are unable to breathe, stay warm, or nurse on their own. “The NICU is where our littlest patients are able to thrive, gain weight, maintain their own body temperature, feed on their own, and grow,” says Evans. The average stay in the NICU is 15 days, but some babies stay for months.
When the baby can go home, it is a joyous but anxious time for parents, Evans explains. The NICU staff has been there around the clock to care for the baby. Now the parents will provide all the care on their own.
That is where Evans and her co-teachers step in. The goal of the class is to empower the NICU families with as much knowledge and confidence as possible prior to going home. Each family that has a baby in the NICU has the opportunity to attend the class, Evans explains.
The class is approximately an hour and a half long. The family is given a packet of information to supplement the Parent Journal they were given as their baby was admitted to the NICU. Their packet contains information about car safety seats, and well baby care. They also receive a self instruction CPR DVD and manikin and a DVD with information about how to sooth a baby who is crying and how to sooth themselves as parents.
348 babies were admitted to the NICU in 2009 with close to that number of families receiving the Discharge Class. Sixty-four percent of those families qualify as low income. These families are not just from Medford they come from throughout southern Oregon and northern California. All families are provided the same opportunities.
“We treat all children no matter their illness, injury, special need or financial circumstance,” Evans says.
About RVMC NICU
The NICU cares for over 300 premature babies each year and serves families from Lakeview, Oregon to Crescent City, California. It is a Level III-B NICU, which means it cares for infants born as early as 24 weeks and as little as 1 pound 2 ounces. The NICU is currently undergoing a 9,000 square foot expansion that will increase capacity from 20 to 32 babies with mostly private rooms to accommodate baby and family. The expansion is expected to be completed in the summer of 2011