The Greening of Nursery: Removing Toxic Products from the NICU
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The Greening of Nursery: Removing Toxic Products from the NICU is a webinar presentation on the impact of design and building materials and equipment on NICU patients and families.


The neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) is where daily miracles take place in most hospitals. Babies with extremely low birth weight, those with difficult births and those with life-threatening conditions begin their lives in these intense, high-tech environments. The NICU staff work to save the lives of infants and to have the best possible outcomes for infants and their families. The design of the NICU environment must support this goal. And so should the materials designers use in these life-saving units.

 

New knowledge of the potential for harm to infants, staff and families through decreased indoor air quality (IAQ) and direct exposure to toxins has altered the selection process of building materials, equipment and maintenance products. In this program, an architect, a designer and a neo-natal nurse tackle the challenges of designing these units and provide a look at the latest research into what designers can do to make sure the environment of the NICU adds to rather than detracts from the healing space.


Webinar Learning Objectives


  • Identify materials, finishes and equipment that negatively impact IAQ.

  • State ways in which user groups can work with the organization to eliminate potentially damaging products from their nursery.

  • Research new, low toxicity products that meet the criteria for use in an NICU.

  • Identify the effects of toxic elements on infants, families and staff.

  • Understand the importance of being proactive with regards to eliminating toxic elements from the hospital environment.


About the Speakers

 

 

Elizabeth MacMillan-York has been a neonatal nurse for more than 25 years with the past two years being focused on the design and building of a new single room NICU at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre in Toronto. She has seen neonatology and NICUs change dramatically over time. Desired outcomes have moved from simple survival to survival with minimal long term complications. The NICU is no longer designed around the work of clinicians. Units are designed to provide a safe, comfortable and workable environment for three distinct groups--the infant, the family and the clinicians.


A new aspect of 'safe' in her existing unit and in the design of the new NICU at Sunnybrook is the focus on identifying and removing products which contain chemical components that are toxic to infants, families and staff--replacing them with safer alternatives.

 

 

 

Lynne Wilson-Orr is an architect and interior designer who has specialized in healthcare design and planning for more than 20 years. The projects that she has worked on include everything from small rural hospitals to large urban, teaching hospitals and brand new greenfield hospitals to renovations of late 19th century structures. Lynne has been responsible for the design and planning of many Level II and Level III neonatal intensive care units, maternal/newborn units, paediatric units and maternal/child out patient facilities. Some of her recent projects include the new Woodstock General Hospital, Woodstock, Ontario, the Perinatal & Gynaecology Program at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre in Toronto and the Level III NICU at Rainbow Babies & Children’s Hospital in Cleveland, Ohio.

 
Lynne was one of the contributors to the Health Canada Family-Centred Maternity and Newborn Care National Guidelines and is a member of the Consensus Committee to Establish Recommended Standards for Newborn ICU Design (USA). She is working on healthcare projects in Toronto, Hamilton, Winnipeg and Lethbridge.

 

 

 

 

Antje Reid is an interior designer with more than five years experience in healthcare design. Her interest is in sustainable design and creating healthy environments through education and awareness of building methods and materials. She is a LEED Accredited Professional and is working towards her Registered Specification Writer designation. Antje has been responsible for the interior design for both small units and large scale renovations of existing facilities and additions.


Some of her current projects include the Hospital for Sick Children, Cardiac Diagnostic & Intervention Unit in Toronto, the new NICU/PICU for the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario in Ottawa, and the Level III NICU at Rainbow Babies and Children’s Hospital in Cleveland.