During this COVID-19 pandemic, the news media has often featured the frontline nurses and doctors caring for sick patients day in and day out. We hear over and over, “the doctors and nurses of XY hospital”, “the doctors and nurses of Z hospital”. We hear much less about all the other healthcare professionals who routinely do so much good for patients – the respiratory therapists, the laboratory and imaging technicians, the rehabilitation specialists, specialists in disciplines such as pharmacy and nutrition, and the custodial staff and others – all the members of what is really a multifaceted team that takes care of patients in hospitals. The neonatal intensive care unit at El Paso Children’s Hospital is no different. It truly takes a village to raise our tiny warriors.

Even at the birth of a preterm or ill term baby, there is a multidisciplinary NICU team, including neonatologists and pediatricians, NICU nurses, and pediatric respiratory therapists, present and each ready to play a different part to support the baby’s needs at the moment they enter the world. The team works in concert to stabilize and transport the baby to the NICU where an even larger team’s work then begins. Our friendly front desk staff work to put parents more at ease, giving them information about the NICU and allowing them to concentrate on helping their babies grow and heal. At their baby’s bedside, parents will find the true heart of the NICU, our nurses, caring for the baby as if they were their own and keeping a careful watch for any change in status. The nurses work closely with neonatologists, skilled neonatal nurse practitioners, and pediatric residents who create treatment plans tailored to each baby and perform any needed procedures while calling on knowledgeable pediatric sub-specialists and surgeons when necessary. Specially-trained pharmacists ensure appropriate medication administration, and our dieticians make sure our patients do one of the most important things they can do to progress – grow.

Our respiratory therapists also work closely with the team, helping to support our patient’s often immature lungs as they get stronger. Mothers wishing to provide breast milk and breastfeed their babies are encouraged by our entire team, especially with the assistance of our compassionate lactation consultant. Physical, occupational, and speech therapists not only work with the babies to help them develop the skills they will need when they are discharged but also with parents to teach them how to help their babies thrive. Our case manager and social worker work tirelessly to ensure that families have the resources needed to support their babies after discharge, and our custodial staff provides a clean and comfortable environment for the babies and their families.

All these people, with many more often behind the scenes and with parents at the center, form the support net that lifts our tiny patients up. As parents love, encourage, and advocate for their babies who may be going through one of the most challenging experiences of their lives at such a young age, they will learn they can rely on each member of this team in a different but connected way. Each member of this team comes to work in the morning to promote a common goal – to send our little patients home with their families, as strong and as healthy as possible.

This article was written by
Zoe Tullius, M.D.
A Doctor with Texas Tech Physicians El Paso
and Neonatologist at El Paso Children’s Hospital Level IV NICU