AngelEye Gives NICU Parents Virtual Time With Their Babies

In March 2020, as the coronavirus began to spread unchecked throughout the country, many hospitals were forced to implement restricted visitation policies to control the spread and protect patients and staff.

These restrictions, though necessary, affected families with infants hospitalized in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU)—parents were not allowed to enter the hospital and spend time with their baby. The very next day after closing to visitation, the NICU started using virtual platforms to communicate with parents and caregivers during daily rounding.

Staff was able to send one-way videos, pictures and text messages to patients' families, providing them with updates and information. But families could not observe their baby in real time.

The NICU leadership team developed a plan to implement a more robust, family-friendly virtual platform, the AngelEye Camera System. They got approval for the system in May 2021 and it went live in October. The system allows parents and families to view their baby 24 hours a day via a real-time live streaming video feed. 

“We can't imagine how hard it must be for a parent to leave their child in the care of complete strangers,” said Tiara Smolinski, unit director for the Neonatal ICU. “Our hope is that AngelEye not only promotes bonding and provides comfort and reassurance, but also reduces stress and anxiety for families when they can’t be here."

Only two parents/guardians are allowed to visit in the NICU currently. But parents can ​​​​​to share access to the AngelEye camera with other family members— grandparents, siblings of the baby and other relatives and friends can view the baby once access is granted by the parents. When care is being provided to a baby, the camera is turned off and a baby-away message is displayed until patient care activities are completed.

Parents and families have appreciated being able to check in on their babies when they're not able to be at the hospital in person. One parent said: “The addition of Angel Eye has allowed us to receive pictures from the nurses, updates from the doctors, educational materials, and videos of the milestones we have to miss. I used to call at least once in the middle of the night, but now with Angel Eye I usually wake up to a picture and an update from his nurse and the doctor. These reassure me that my baby is doing ok, and I don’t need to pull the nurse away from their work to answer my phone call.”

In this time of COVID-19, we're continuing to do whatever we can to keep patients and families connected and healthy. If you have questions about AngelEye, contact Tiara Smolinski in the NICU at tecarico@carilionclinic.org. If you have a story from your team about ways you're working in new ways during this time, email Katherine Cork, Marketing and Communications, at ktcork@carilionclinic.org.

For more information or to share this project, go to this article in our CarilionClinic.org newsroom.