Making Neonatal Intensive Care Units More Visually Appealing

A neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) provides a series of impressions that impact behavior and attitudes of staff, families, visitors, and donors. The value of incorporating nature, artistic features, daylight, creative themes, and special furnishings should not be diminished. These efforts have the potential to support families' ability to cope, increase job satisfaction, increase donor appeal, and enhance recruitment. Clear guiding principles, research, and a collaborative process are essential to creating and maintaining a visually appealing NICU that makes these types of differences.