The Safest and Most Convenient Way to Discharge a Newborn from the Hospital
By: Nancy Travis, MS, RN, CPN, C-ONQS, ANLC-P, FAWHONN
As a maternal child nurse leader in a large healthcare system, we frequently had meetings at different campuses. I can still remember the day that one of those meetings took place at Golisano Children’s Hospital of Southwest Florida and I was walking through the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit with my NICU Director colleague. I spotted some colorful and intriguing cart-like things and wanted to learn more. A new family was in the process of loading up one of the carts. The parents were assuring that their baby was safely placed in their car seat, the car seat went onto the Infant Discharge Cart, and all the personal belongings went onto the bottom of the cart. The best part was the mother of the newborn was still not ready to walk out of the hospital so she was in a wheelchair and the wheelchair fit the cart perfectly so that she could hold on to the cart and her partner could push the wheelchair so both mother and newborn could be transported together down to their car to go home. The Infant Discharge Cart allowed the family to leave the NICU in just one trip to the car.
After getting all the ordering information from my colleague, I went back to my unit and began the process right away to get funding to purchase the Infant Discharge Carts for my unit. It was an easy sell for my financial team because not only was it safer for the patients, but it was also a positive for patient experience. We purchased the Infant Discharge Carts in assorted colors for our unit. Families loved the carts, and they often took pictures of the discharge from our birthing unit with the whole family gathered around the cart. The families even liked picking out what color cart they wanted to use for their discharge. We received positive feedback from parents who had a baby with us before the purchase of the Infant Discharge Carts and after that the carts made the discharge process so much easier. The staff found the carts amazingly easy to clean and to have ready for the next discharge. They are also exceptionally durable.
Fast forward to March 2025
My oldest granddaughter, Alexis, was in a serious automobile accident which resulted in fractures in both of her legs and a fractured wrist. She also ended up with an emergency cesarean to deliver my great grandson, Jasper, at 32 weeks gestation. Jasper even had a fracture of his humerus from the car accident. As you can imagine this was an incredibly stressful time for our family. Jasper spent almost 8 weeks in the NICU at Golisano and made great progress and was ready for discharge.
To my surprise, on the day of discharge, they sent me a photo of baby Jasper in his car seat and all their stuff loaded up on the Infant Discharge Cart and Lucas pushing Alexis in the wheelchair and Alexis pushing Jasper down to the car for their first trip home as a brand-new family. I asked Alexis about her experience taking Jasper home and she said that she was concerned about how they were going to be able to do it easily as she was still unable to stand having casts on both legs and how Lucas was going to be able to handle both the baby and her and getting them to the car. She said, “I never expected we would be able to do it in one trip!” She went on to share that it was so special for Lucas to be able to load them both up and push them down to the car. It made him feel special and a big part of the day.
It was a full-circle moment for me. I was a new great-grandmother (or Super Nana as I like to be called). I knew they had a great team of caregivers in the NICU looking out for them and I was able to see a very special member of my family use a product that I truly cared about and was happy to have instituted at my own hospital as a nurse leader. I knew it was a safe and effective way to get two especially important family members on the road for their first trip home as a brand-new family!
Patient First Products Infant Discharge Cart
Most hospitals do not have a safe and secure way to transport infants and families to their cars after the birthing process. Nurses find creative ways to transport families throughout the healthcare facility by using an extra wheelchair, food carts, or placing the infant carrier on the mom’s lap. These modes may not be secure and could increase the risk of falling for the infant due to inadequate safety measures.
The Infant Discharge Cart benefits are:
- Discharge staff can transport the family, infant, and belongings in one trip.
- The cartwheels are super quiet, have static disruptors, and do not mark floors.
- Car seat testing can be performed by the staff utilizing the cart, as the cart is at the correct angle.
- It works well with all models of infant carriers.
- Easily stackable and space-saving.
To learn more about the Infant Discharge Cart: Infant Discharge Cart – Patients First Products
Learn more about Patients First Products
The material presented in this blog represents the opinion of the author(s) and not necessarily the views of Synova Associates. Synova Associates does not endorse any specific products or organizations but strives to connect its industry partners with leaders interested in product/educational innovation.
