NICU babies celebrate Halloween

At the Cleveland Clinic, parents and caregivers helped dress up babies in the NICU in cute Halloween costumes. Many of the costumes were made by the caregivers, including crocheted hats that were handmade by the grandmother of a NICU graduate. 

NICU nurses at Helen DeVos Children's Hospital and Trinity Health Grand Rapids also gave their patients handmade costumes.

NICU babies at Boston Medical Center also joined in on the fun. The costumes were donated by Project Sweet Peas, a nonprofit organization that supports families and caregivers of premature or sick infants, as well as families affected by pregnancy and infant loss.

UnityPoint Health – Meriter is currently holding a NICU Halloween costume contest. Votes for the best costume can be cast on the organization's Facebook page.

At the Women & Infants Hospital, NICU babies are enjoying some Halloween fun in costumes provided by Project Sweet Peas.

(Smith, FOX8, 10/29; MLive, 10/29; Ede, News Channel 3, 10/29; Lam, Boston Globe, 10/28; Maass, WKOW, 10/28; NBC 10 News, 10/29)

In neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) it's not uncommon to poke and prod infants to run labs, but each invasive procedure increases the risk of infection. Intermountain Healthcare's Dixie Medical Center adopted a program to reduce that risk—and saw big improvements in patient safety in and reduced operation costs, Christopher Cheney writes for HealthLeaders Media.