News • Neonatal intensive care
Flexible nurse deployment to mitigate NICU capacity challenges
Due to capacity problems, about 600 babies have to be moved to another Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) every year in the Netherlands. Researchers from the University of Twente's CHOIR research centre, the Amalia Children's Hospital Nijmegen and the Emma Children's Hospital Amsterdam investigated an innovative solution.
Image source: University of Twente
By deploying NICU nurses flexibly within the national NICU network, the number of neonatal transports can potentially be reduced by as much as 70% – a reduction of at least one patient transport per day.
The good news is that in the Netherlands as a whole, there is sufficient capacity to provide this critical form of care. But currently, babies are often moved when an NICU runs out of capacity. In addition to a lot of logistical hassle, this entails health risks for the child and an increased distance to the parents' place of residence. "The physical capacity of NICUs is usually not the problem, but the shortage of specialised nurses," says Gréanne Leeftink, first author of the study.
The research, published in Health Care Management Science, shows that moving nurses instead of babies can prevent a majority of these transports. The researchers analysed various scenarios. "With a little bit of flexibility in staff deployment, a large part of patient movements can be prevented," says Leeftink. This method appears to be very effective, especially in the most urbanised region of the Netherlands: de Randstad.
Through cooperation and flexible deployment, we can improve our use of the available care capacity
Gréanne Leeftink
To improve the use of the available care capacity, only 15% of the nurses need to be available at multiple locations for part of their time. In the end, it only concerns 3-4% of the services. "Through cooperation and flexible deployment, we can improve our use of the available care capacity," says Leeftink. The researchers argue for a pilot project to test the feasibility in practice. Such a system can not only improve the quality of care but also reduce the burden on parents and care staff.
To optimally organise the flexible deployment of nurses, the researchers investigated various strategies. The approach in which nurses can be deployed to all NICUs proved to be the most effective in reducing transports but also requires the most flexibility from the staff. An alternative strategy pairs NICUs together in pairs, so nurses only need to move between two locations. Although this method resulted in slightly less transport reduction, it offers advantages such as shorter travel times and more stability for the staff.
Source: University of Twente
09.03.2025
