Continuity of nursing care after shifting from an open bay to single-family rooms in a Dutch NICU

Neonatal intensive care units (NICU) are increasingly transitioning from Open Bay Units (OBU) to single-family rooms (SFR). These changes may compromise the continuity of care (COC). This study aimed to describe the impact of changing from OBU to SFR on the nursing COC. An observational longitudinal cohort design, in a level IV NICU in the Netherlands between February 2021 and January 2024, was used to gain insight into the nursing COC measured with the K index. Data from 607 infants were included. The K indices during the first week, the first fortnight of life, and the total admittance period, were relatively low but comparable in both phases. The change in architectural design of the NICU did not affect nursing COC. The relatively low nursing COC suggests that routine measuring of nursing COC is important to increase awareness and to support the development of interventions aimed at improving COC.