Congratulations to Elliot Health System for meeting the annual requirements to be a Gold Level Safe Sleep Certified Hospital by the Cribs for Kids Organization.

“It is so exciting to work for a hospital that really focuses on the importance of safe sleep and, more importantly, the fact that we have been able to consistently meet the expectations of a Gold Level Champion. We were the first hospital in the state to receive a designation and the only hospital that held the Gold Level Certification for a few years,” Anne Frechette, Clinical Nurse Manager for The Elliot, says.

The Cribs for Kids certification lasts five years, but requires an annual submission to assure each year the standards are continuing to be met. There are three levels of designation, gold is the highest level a hospital can earn. For the annual submission, The Elliot had to meet these designations:

  • Host at least two different community outreach events per year
  • Participate in a wearable blanket/sleep sack program
  • Perform “safe sleep” crib audits (The Elliot performs 10 “safe sleep” crib audits per month on each of the Women’s and Children’s Division Units, Pediatric Units, NICU, and Maternity)
  • Must also have an updated hospital policy that is consistent to the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommendations for safe sleep practice
  • Provide annual education to staff so they are receiving consistent information and remain up to date with AAP guidelines to accurately model and teach those behaviors to patients and their families
  • Provide patient education that is consistent with AAP recommendations

“Our staff makes sure that when a patient is admitted to Labor and Delivery that there is a safe place for their baby to sleep upon discharge. If not, our staff ensures that they have secured a safe sleep environment by the time they are discharged from the hospital, thereby assuring every newborn discharge from our hospital is going home to a safe place to sleep,” Frechette says.

The Elliot also has targeted information for grandparents to assure they are up to date on best practices for safe sleep. To help with this education, different safe sleep alternatives and a mock nursery are set up in the third-floor waiting room to demonstrate different options for safe sleep.

Every baby discharged from the newborn nursery or the NICU is provided with a Halo Sleep Sack which is donated by the Elliot Associates. The Elliot Associates also provide a book from Charlie’s Kids Foundation on safe sleep to every family upon discharge from the Maternity Unit.

The certification is important to The Elliot because it means we are consistently educating and role modeling behaviors from staff to patient. “Having nurses’ model safe sleep practices in the hospital and teach parents safe sleep practices goes a very long way in getting parents to understand safe sleep practices,” Frechette explains.