VISITING HOSPITAL

All hospital visitors are encouraged to wear a medical face mask. Expand this message for information about visiting hospital. 

Last updated:
31 October 2024

Some visitor restrictions for all Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora Waitaha Canterbury hospitals and health facilities remain in place, but we have relaxed others.

There is still a heightened risk to vulnerable people in hospital and we encourage all people wear a mask when visiting any of our facilities and follow other advice designed to keep patients, staff and visitors safe.

To keep everybody safe:

  • Visitors or support people are advised to not visit our facilities if they are unwell. We advise that you do not visit if you have recently tested positive for COVID-19 and haven’t completed your isolation period.
  • Patients may have more than one visitor, except in some situations such as multi-bed rooms where it can cause overcrowding.
  • Surgical/medical masks are encouraged to be worn at all sites. Masks will be provided if you don’t have one.
  • Please practice hand hygiene with provided alcohol-based hand rub/gel

Thank you in advance for your patience and understanding as our staff work hard to protect and care for some of the most vulnerable in our community.

Visiting patients with COVID-19

  • People can visit patients who have COVID-19 but they must wear a surgical mask as a minimum – please use surgical masks provided.

All of our Hospitals

Visiting hours for our hospitals have returned to pre COVID-19 hours.

All visitors are encouraged to wear a medical face mask.

Parents/caregivers can be with their child in hospital and visitors are now allowed, except for the Children’s Haematology and Oncology Day stay where visitor restrictions might apply.

Patients and visitors can also read the additional COVID-19 related visiting guidelines .

Neonatal Service

Our focus is providing holistic whānau oriented care for your pēpi. Supporting your pēpi /baby in our Neonatal Unit (NICU) booklet introduces you to developmentally supportive and cue based care for your pēpi.

The Neonatal Service provides 24-hour care for newborn pēpi with a variety of special needs. This includes prematurity, surgery, congenital abnormalities and pēpi who may have been compromised at birth. Care is provided by a skilled and experienced multi-disciplinary team utilising current evidence based practice.

An Introduction to the Neonatal Unit

The Canterbury Neonatal Service provides special and intensive care for all pēpi born in the wider Canterbury region. This region extends to Timaru in the South, Greymouth in the West and Kaikoura in the North (approximately 20,000 square kilometres).           

In addition, all newborn peeps requiring surgery in the South Island, which is approximately 50,000 square kilometres (excluding the Nelson region), will be cared for within this service. If a pēpi requires cardiac surgery then once stabilised, the pēpi will be transferred to New Zealand's/Aotearoa's only Paediatric Cardiac Surgery Unit, which is in Auckland.

In view of the large geographical area that this service is responsible for, a highly skilled Neonatal retrieval team is available 24 hours to transport pēpi to and from our tertiary referral centre in Christchurch/Ōtautahi. However when emergencies occur in a home setting the ambulance is called first. In 2021-22, there were 114 transports by helicopter, fixed wing aircraft, or ambulance.

The Neonatal Service currently provides 12 level 3 and 32 level 2 intensive care cots, a total of 44. We have had between 850 and 960 admissions per year over the last four years. The gestational age varied from less than 26 weeks to 42 weeks. The smallest pēpi admitted weighed less than 500g.​

We recognise that breastfeeding is an integral part of the care that our pēpi receive and this is both facilitated and encouraged in accordance with the World Health Organisation (WHO) and United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF) joint statement in 1989. This is supported by the BFHI.

The Service has a strong Nursing and Medical research philosophy. At any time there are numerous consented studies or reviews in progress.  To facilitate this process there are Neonatal Research Nurses employed to assist in the management of some of the Neon​atal studies. More information on current studies in progress is provided here.

The care that we provide, is guided by the Code of Health and Disability Services Consumer's Rights and The Treaty of Waitangi/ Te Tiriti o​​ Waitangi.  

The Canterbury Neonatal Service prides itself on its multi-disciplinary approach and teamwork when caring for the  pēpi​ and whānau​ of Canterbury/Waitaha. We are constantly sustaining and improving the type of care that we provide for our community/takiwhā​​​. Central to this is our reflective practice and our desire to base as much of our model of care as possible, on current evidence based practice.

Our philosophy as health care providers is to

Consistently provide, as a team, quality holistic care with respect for whānau, encompassing the concepts of Te Whare Tapa Whā (The four cornerstones of health), Te Taha Wairua (Spiritual), Te Taha Tinana (Physical), Te Taha Whānau (Family), Te Taha Hinengaro (Emotional and psychological) in accordance with Te Tiriti o Waitangi (The Treaty of Waitangi) and the Code of Health and Disability Services Consumers Rights (1994).

Create and maintain an environment, conducive to the provision of developmentally supportive care, which will maximise the pēpi's outcome and potential for a dignified and independent life.
Promote and foster healthy interpersonal relationships, between nga mātua/parents, extended whānau and pēpi.

Ensure the multi-disciplinary team advocates for the pēpi and their whānau in all aspects of care including complaints.

Encourage open and effective communication between all staff and whānau in a supportive caring environment, providing interpretation when required, without discrimination.

Ensure appropriate preparation for discharge and ongoing needs. These needs will be established in consultation with the whānau and multi-disciplinary team members.

Recognise the necessity, of maintaining high levels of care and skill within the Neonatal Service, based on evidence based practice, current teaching and research.​

Admission and Care of your pēpi

In this video you will learn more about your pēpi’s admission to the Neonatal Unit.

Level 3 (Intensive Care)

Our Level 3 or intensive care area provides care for pēpi ​who need help with breathing (ventilator or CPAP) or who have complex needs, including needing surgery. In addition, any pēpi that requires intensive observation will be cared for within this environment.

The service utilises Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) and various forms of ventilation (High Frequency and Nitric Oxide, Volume and SIMV-Synchronised Intermittent Mandatory Ventilation) in supporting pēpi who are experiencing breathing difficulties or who require support post surgery.

Utilising the extended multi-disciplinary team, these babies are cared for in a physical environment that enables us to closely monitor all of their activity. Extremely sick or unwell pēpi are usually cared for by one Nurse who is able to solely focus on the pēpi's and family's/whānau​'s needs.

Within our entire neonatal environment the parents are a valued member of the team. Staff will assist in any way possible to minimise separation and encourage contact. This often involves changing nappies, taking temperatures and kangaroo care. The parents' role is highly valued.

Level 2 (Special Care)

The Level 2 or special care area provides support and care for pēpi​ who are able to breath for themselves but may still have special needs that require input from our multi-disciplinary team. These pēpi may require oxygen therapy, intravenous therapy, antibiotics, who are of a low birth weight, or are unable to keep warm or feed well.
This area doesn't appear as "High Tech" as intensive care and encourages the whānau to participate more freely in the care of their pēpi. In this situation, one Nurse will care for up to five pēpi.

Pēpi often progress into room 6 where their care is focused more on the "well" pēpi who perhaps still remains a little small and who is beginning to establish oral feeding. The physical surroundings of this nursery, allows and encourages families/whānau​ to achieve a high level of participation in the care of their pēpi. Nurses in this level impart Parentcraft skills that will be of enormous value when the babies are discharged into their home environment.

Parent rooms are available when the pēpi​​ ​ is close to discharge. We aim for all parents to room in with their pēpi​​ for at least one night prior to discharge to enable parents to feel more confident on discharge. Meals are provided for parents living in.

Getting to know my pēpi

In this video you will find tips on forming a bond with your pēpi while in the Neonatal Unit, and learning about people who can help.

Neonatal Services, Christchurch Women's Hospital

ACNM: Associate Clinical Nurse Manager

Provides clinical coordination and professional leadership, support, guidance and coaching to nursing staff of the neonatal service on a shift by shift basis ensuring the provision of safe, effective quality care.

Chaplaincy Service

The Christchurch Hospital’s Chaplaincy Service: Chaplains are available for all whānau​. The service is sensitive to and respectful of people of all cultures and beliefs.

Chaplains are a part of this hospital’s healthcare team. They offer:

  • The time to listen, be with and encourage you.
  • A supportive presence, especially in times of crisis
  • Pastoral care/counselling
  • Blessing, naming, celebration ceremonies for you and your pēpi
  • Baptism and other church sacraments, including funerals
  • Networking with and referral to other professionals in the hospital and community

The chaplaincy team includes the Chaplain to Māori and a Catholic Chaplain

To contact a chaplain, ask your nurse, social worker. There is always a chaplain available “on call” outside normal working hours.

Clinical Director

Provides leadership for the service in conjunction with the Nurse Manager. The CD is responsible for co-ordinating the team providing the medical management of the pēpi in our service, and represents the service nationally and internationally.

Clinical Nurse Specialist (Advanced Neonatal Practice) CNS (ANP)

Clinical Nurse specialist (advanced neonatal practice); CNS(ANP) are senior nurses who have many years experience and have done speciality training to work on the medical team. They rotate around different areas of the Neonatal service with the registrars covering different areas of neonatal, postnatal, delivery suite and retrievals. They are responsible for the day to day medical management of your infants and will discuss any concerns with the Neonatal consultant on duty.

Dietitian

The Neonatal Dietitian is here to make sure your pēpi receives the best nutrition and she will be monitoring the growth and nutritional intake of your pēpi. She is on the morning ward rounds to look at growth charts, to discuss and implement feeding changes. If you have questions regarding what nutrition your pēpi is receiving or your pēpi growth then ask your nurse to contact her and she can come and discuss this with you. She is also able to provide advice for breastfeeding mothers on their own nutrition as this can be an issue for many busy parents. She is available Monday to Friday.

Discharge facilitator

The role of the discharge facilitator is to assist in the preparation of whānau​ transitioning to home. In particular, families who are discharging with ongoing medical needs such as home oxygen and tube feeding. Discharge facilitators are part of a multi-disciplinary team caring for the and liaise closely with the Neonatal Outreach Nurses. Contact details are 364 ​​4244 or pager numbers 5291 / 5487.

Enrolled Nurse

Provides quality nursing care, support and education to pēpi and their parents within the special care/level 2 environment of the Neonatal Service.

Hearing Screening Team

Hearing screening is offered to all babies admitted to NICU as part of the national Universal Newborn Hearing Screening and Early Intervention Programme. At some point during a pēpi NICU journey, parents/caregivers are given written information about the programme. We have a team of four NICU nurses who complete screening of the pēpi admitted to NICU. As a pēpi nears discharge home (usually after 36 weeks), parents/caregivers will be approached by one of the nurses on the hearing screening team to see if they would be interested in having their pēpi screened. This is a good opportunity for parents/caregivers to ask any questions they may have about the screening. Hearing screening is a simple process, and parents/caregivers are given the results from the screen straight away.

Hospital Aide

To facilitate appropriate cleaning and setting up of equipment to support the Clinical Team in the care of the neonate and to ensure adequate stock levels are maintained.

Infection Control and Prevention Nurse Specialist

The Clinical Nurse Specialist in Infection Prevention and Control (IP&C) is an information/advisory resource who has specialist education in this field of nursing. This specialist nurse can provide education and support in relation to any IP&C issues both to parents and staff in neonatal unit e.g. infectious disease and how we control these in the unit. In addition, there are printed resources available which may also be useful for parents.

Karitane Nurse

Provides a strong parent craft model of nursing care to pēpi and their parents within the special care/level 2 environment, this includes consistent and current advice on areas such as lactation and discharge preparation.

Māori Health Worker

Part of the multidisciplinary team this role is to tautoko (support) and awhi (help) parents on their journey in NICU and provide a culturally safe environment.

Medical Technicians

Clinical Engineering takes care of the medical equipment and systems. This includes advice on the purchase, operation and the maintenance of medical equipment. The development of medical equipment systems to meet the clinical requirements is also included.

Milk Room Aide

To facilitate the appropriate making of milk feeds and milk additives for pēpi within the Neonatal Services.

Neonatal Nurse Manager

The nurse manager coordinates nursing and the support team across neonatal inpatient and outreach services, facilitating and promoting excellence in patient care.

Neonatal Outreach Nurses

A team of neonatal nurses who follow up a selection of pēpi from the neonatal unit after discharge to provide support and advice.

Neonatal Research Nurses

The research nurses co-ordinate the units participation in Clinical Research Studies. The unit participates in local, national and international studies. The findings of which lead to improvements in clinical practice.

Paediatricians

Consultant Neonatal Paediatricians: the paediatricians are responsible for the overall medical management of your pēpi. We have six neonatal consultants who rotate through service in the neonatal unit. You will see a lot more of the consultant who is "on service" for that week. If you would like to speak to your consultant please indicate to your nurse or the ACNM on duty. They will also follow your pēpi up after discharge if indicated.

Pharmacist

A Clinical Pharmacist visits the Neonatal Unit each morning (Monday - Friday). The visit will usually include attending the ward round and providing medication dosing advice to the medical team and to any parents who may have medication related queries about their pēpi's care. As part of the ward visit the pharmacist will also check medication charts to ensure that all prescriptions have been written correctly and that the medicines can be given in a safe and timely manner.

Nearer to the time of discharge home, if your pēpi will need medicines to be continued at home, the pharmacist will help to ensure that this can happen as easily as possible. In some cases there may be discharge medicines that need to be dispensed from the hospital pharmacy, rather than your local community pharmacy after discharge and the Neonatal Clinical Pharmacist and Discharge Facilitator will be able to advise you if this is the case. During your infant's stay in the NICU please do ask the pharmacist if you have any questions about medication that you think they may be able to help with.

Physiotherapist

Physiotherapists assess pēpi for their development, head shape, range of movement and muscle strength, meet with parents for specific handling and positioning sessions and discuss developmental play ideas and liaises with the community therapists if pēpi have ongoing needs. Physiotherapists also run a developmental playgroup for preterm pēpi to ensure achievement of developmental milestones in the first year of life.

Radiologists

We are a team of five Radiologists (located at Christchurch Women's Hospital and Christchurch Public Hospital) who specialises in Neonatal and Obstetric Radiology. We assess and diagnose neonatal abnormalities on several different forms of imaging. This most commonly includes neonatal Xrays and ultrasound but may also include CT, MRI and Xray fluoroscopy. We use a state of the art system called PACS which displays the images electronically and allows rapid communication of the results with the Neonatologists. We also present the cases for discussion at a weekly multidisciplinary Xray meeting with the Paediatric surgeons and Neonatologists.

Registrars

Neonatal registrar: registrars are paediatricians in training (with several years practice as doctors already). They rotate around different areas of the Neonatal service with the CNS (ANP) covering different areas of neonatal, postnatal, delivery suite and retrievals. They are responsible for the day to day medical management of your pēpi and will discuss any concerns with the Neonatal consultant on duty.

Registered Nurse

Provides a high level of clinical nursing care for neonates within the neonatal service and their families.

Safety and Quality Unit

The Women's and Children's Safety and Quality Unit (SQU) is responsible for overseeing the quality and safety of the services we offer and providing guidance, tools and advice to clinical/operational staff and managers. We are continuously monitoring the quality of care users of our services receive and looking for ways that collectively we can improve this.

Social Work Team

There are three Social Workers in NICU providing 80 hours of support each week. We assist with practical and emotional issues that may arise. Our goal is to work alongside whanau to help reduce stress in order that parents can attach and experience the most positive start possible with their pēpi. We can refer onto agencies when support is required following discharge.

NICU Social Worker work with whanau providing emotional and practical support. We understand the complexity of the issues in the NICU. Our role is to walk beside families through the NICU journey to help reduce stress in the unit and at home.

Speech Language Therapy

There is a Speech Language Therapy service available to all pēpi admitted to the NICU. We offer a Monday to Friday service, and there are currently three therapists on the unit. Speech Language Therapists assess your pēpi's sucking and feeding skills, and will create individual feeding plans to help with his or her sucking and feeding. For those pēpi that are bottle fed, we may recommend specialist teats.

We also work in conjunction with the infant feeding specialist, the physiotherapist and the medical team to give advice around feeding positions and routines. We usually see pēpi born early, those with syndromes, cleft palate or any pēpi having difficulty feeding. Pēpi can have feeding difficulties for a variety of reasons, so our involvement may be for a short or long time. For those pēpi that are on the NICU for a long time, we also give advice about early communication development. Outpatient follow-up is also available once your pēpi has gone home.

​The Christchurch Women’s Neonatal Transport Team covers retrievals of newborn, premature and/or sick pēpi from Kaikoura to the West Coast and down to Timaru, as not all hospitals have the resources to care for preterm or sick babies. The team also covers the retrieval of pēpi requiring surgical intervention from Nelson to Invercargill and take them to Christchurch Women’s Hospital, which is the only hospital that provides surgical services to neonates in the South Island.

​​​​​The transport team may also collect preterm or sick pēpi from other hospitals around New Zealand if the retrieval team from the referring hospital is unable to do the transport. The transport team will also transfer pēpi back to their home hospitals once they are well enough and are almost ready for discharge home.

The goal of the Neonatal Emergency Transport Team is to provide the same quality of specialised care to newborn, premature and/or sick pēpi as they would receive within the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit environment to reduce morbidity and mortality. The team is on call 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

The transport team consists of a dedicated team of specially trained Registered Nurses/Midwives, Clinical Nurse Specialist/Advanced Nurse Practitioner and a Neonatal Registrar.

The pēpi are transported by Road Ambulance (St John) or by Fixed Wing Aircraft (New Zealand Flying Doctors) or Helicopter (Garden City Helicopter).

The Neonatal Transport Team does between 60-80 emergency retrievals a year and 40 transfers of pēpi back to their home hospital. About half of the transports are by ambulance and half by fixed wing and only a few by helicopter.

The Neonatal Service provides a multidisciplinary team approach to breastfeeding and pēpi feeding.

Video: Feeding my pēpi

In this video you will learn more about feeding your pēpi while in the Neonatal Unit.

Infant Feeding Specialist (Clinical Nurse Specialist)

The Clinical Nurse Specialist supports staff and whanau in breastfeeding education and clinical matters. 

Associate Clinical Nurse Manager – Breastfeeding Initiative

Monitors Breastfeeding Initiative standards around the 10 steps to successful breastfeeding, the non-breastfeeding mother, the International Code of Marketing and subsequent resolution, and the Treaty of Waitangi.

Feeding Team

Clinical expertise in breastfeeding and supports colleagues in clinical breast feeding skills
Neurodevelopmental Physiotherapist

Assesses complex babies for neurodevelopmental issues related to feeding, sucking and swallowing.

Speech Language Therapist

Assesses the suck and swallow of complex pepi and implements a programme with staff and parents involved.

Discharge Planner

A nurse who works with complex pepi and plays an important role in setting up specifically targeted programmes and recourses for discharge into the community e.g. teaching home feeding via pump.

Information about Breastfeeding

Pēpi Friendly Hospital Initiative

The Neonatal Service supports the Pepi Friendly Initiative and recognises the 10 Steps to Successful Breastfeeding . For information about the Ten Steps and the Pepi Friendly Hospital Initiative see www.babyfriendly.org.nz

The following outlines your Pepi Friendly Hospital education requirements:

  • Medical Staff – 2 hours' education over the last 2 years
  • Nursing Staff – 21 hours – comprising 17 hrs of education + 1 hr Breast Feeding for Māori
  • Women over a 5 year period and 3 hrs Clinical Breastfeeding education over the last 2 years.
  • Ancillary Staff – 3 hrs education over 3 years
  • All new staff need to have initial education within 6 months of starting.​

Expressing Equipment while in hospital

Video: NICU Microwave sterilizing

Video Transcript

[Video length: 2:30 minutes]

[Title: NICU Microwave sterilizing]

[Perform hand hygiene before handling, feeding equipment, collect clean equipment, separate feeding, expressing equipment, and place into named quick clean microwave bag.

Add 60 mils tap water using a feeding cup as a measuring device.

Add feeding cup to microwave, bag, seal, bag, and microwave for one minute 30 seconds, press quick.

Start button three times and press start.

Wash, rinse and dry container thoroughly.

Place green sheet on bench

Using tong’s carefully.

Pour hot water from quick clean bag into sink From fing hole on the side of the bag.

Ensure bag is fully drained.

Perform hand hygiene open bag and allow items to cool slightly.

But before removing from bag, ensure items are thoroughly dry.

Before placing in clean and dry container, place the lid onto the container and seal dry thoroughly inside of microwave bag with a patient wipe after every use mark table provided on quick clean bag with marker pen provided.

Discard after 20 uses and replace with a new bag.

Clean metal tongs and bench with a combined two in one detergent and disinfectant wipe.]

 

Video: NICU washing sterilizing

Video Transcript

[Video length: 3:38 minutes]

[Title: NICU washing sterilizing]

[Wipe over bench with a combined two in one detergent and disinfectant Wipe EG canal.

Perform hand hygiene.

Place a clean patient wipe on left dirty side of sink and green on right clean side of sink.

Separate all pieces of equipment.

Place on left side of sink.

Rinse any pieces of equipment under cool running water.

Place plastic container supplied into the sink and filled with warm water and detergent.

Place equipment to be cleaned into warm soapy water and wash individual items with bottle brush.

Rinse items under warm running water.

Rinse bottle, brush and remove excess water.

Place washed equipment onto green sheet on right side of sink to drain wash.

Rinse the container and dry thoroughly with a clean patient wipe.

Perform hand hygiene, dry expressing, feeding equipment thoroughly.

With a clean patient wipe place clean equipment into container shake, bottle brush to remove remaining moisture and then dry with patient.

Wipe and place in container.

Place lid on top of container.

Ensure all items are dry before sealing the lid.

Clean bench with a combined two in one detergent and disinfectant wipe EG canal.

Perform hand hygiene.]

The Neonatal Discharge and Outreach Service is a team of Clinical Nurse Specialists.  For some pepi the ‘Road to Home’ can be longer than others and it is our goal to ensure you are comfortable when it is time to take your pepi home.  

If your pepi has continuing medical needs after they leave the Neonatal Unit, such as home oxygen or tube feeding our Discharge Team will provide all necessary education and supplies. The Outreach team provides further support for you and your pepi at home as needed.

The road to home - Pamphlet

Page last updated: 3 February 2025

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