Introduction
As a NICU parent, one of the most difficult pieces of the journey is the physical separation that you have to endure initially and each day that follows. Every time you walk out of those NICU doors to go home without your baby is devastating. Parents are left sitting at home wondering if their baby is awake, or are they restless, did they gain weight, did they take their full bottle, or were they able to keep their ng tube out? The company AngelEye Health has developed state-of-the art technology to not only help ease the physical separation, but to also increase connectedness, communication, education, and support for NICU parents.
For today’s podcast, I sat down with Jaylee Hilliard, the Senior Director of Clinical Strategy at AngelEye Health. She shared the 4 different solutions AngelEye offers hospitals that work collectively to engage and support parents. Most prominently, AngelEye is known for their bedside Camera System that allows parents and friends and family 24 hours of livestream video access of the baby while they are in the NICU. Once parents are at home, they have the ability to get on the app and see their beautiful miracle whenever they would like. Additionally, grandparents who are not close by or siblings who are unable to visit due to visiting restrictions, all have the ability to log on and see the livestream video of the baby so they do not miss out on their journey.
AngelEye also offers an educational platform for parents as well as the ability for NICU clinicians to message and communicate updates with the parents through the platform to keep them informed and engaged. Lastly, AngelEye offers a breastmilk tracker to help parents document pumping sessions as well as lactation resources. Continue listening to learn how AngelEye helps to support parental engagement and family-centered care during the NICU journey and beyond and why Jaylee’s passion for engaging and educating families has grown even more! If you are a NICU parent or NICU clinician, you do not want to miss this episode!
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Episode 41
Our Guest
Jaylee Hilliard, MSN, RN, NEA-BC, CPXP
Jaylee Hilliard is Senior Director of Clinical Strategy at AngelEye Health where she is focused on supporting hospital and health system partnerships to deliver specialized patient and family support via state-of-the-art technology. In her role she drives product innovation and support development, leads the clinical team to effectively support healthcare leaders across the nation in technology optimization and supports hospitals in their pursuit of achieving the quadruple aim. Jaylee joined the organization in 2019 having accumulated more than a decade of progressive clinical experience previously including serving as Director of Neonatal Services and the pediatric Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation (ECMO) program at McLane Children’s Baylor Scott & White Hospital. Most recently, Jaylee gained experience as a NICU parent after her daughter Everlee was born emergently at 32 weeks and 6 days, requiring a 25 day stay in the NICU.
The Hilliard Family
Jaylee, her husband, Brian, their daughter Everlee, and their 3 dogs live in central Texas. Jaylee and her now husband, Brian were engaged, married, and pregnant in 2020 during the initial height of the pandemic which made for an exciting roller coaster of a beginning for their life together.
Jaylee’s Professional Background
Jaylee started as a NICU nurse in a Level IV NICU. It was within this academic medical center that her passion for Family-Centered Care grew. She wanted to know how to best integrate parents so they could be invited to have a seat at the table as a member of the care team once their child was admitted to the NICU. She also developed a passion for breastfeeding and lactation, so she led some committees in both of those areas. After Jaylee pursued a Master’s of Science in Nursing Leadership and Healthcare Policies, she transitioned into various leadership roles throughout the Children’s Hospital. She eventually made her way back to the NICU where she had worked as the nurse as the Director. Jaylee thoroughly enjoyed overseeing the operation and leading a great team of NICU professionals.
Three years ago, Jaylee decided to pursue a new opportunity and started consulting with some healthcare and software companies which led her to the position at AngelEye as the Senior Director of Clinical Strategy. In this position, it allows her to bridge the gaps that she had perceived in her nursing career between the needs of the front lines of the hospital versus the products and tools being developed to support those needs.
Currently, she focuses on market research by interviewing families and current users of AngelEye’s platform to better understand what the current challenges are and how they can best leverage their technology to be more efficient and improve the families’ NICU experience.
How does AngelEye Health promote Family-Centered Care?
AngelEye’s platform aims to educate, engage, and empower families so while they may experience an alteration in parental role during their baby’s time in the NICU, it will help them to feel more equipped to advocate for their child. Once they feel empowered, they will be more likely to speak up and truly develop an understanding for what is going on with their baby. In doing so, the transition of care will naturally flow to the parent’s responsibility in preparation for home.
Camera System
AngelEye has four different solutions that work collectively to engage and support parents. Through AngelEye’s bedside Camera System, parents, extended families, and friends are able to view the baby when they are unable to be at the bedside. The app offers a great way to engage parents, connect them with their child, and to support the Mother-baby dyad. Especially with the restricted visitation policies, many extended families do not understand what the NICU journey really looks like for families. The Camera System gives parents the ability to see the baby anytime they want and it allows families to understand the story and journey of the baby and family. With the real-time visibility, families are able to see overtime how the baby is getting bigger or have different tubes and wires removed as they improve.
Online Education
AngelEye’s platform also offers educational support for parents with access to resources and educational tools through the app. By educating families and engaging them through access, it helps them to feel more confident in advocating for their child. Families also have access to non-profit organizations and additional resources through the app based on each hospital, what their preferences are and the organizations they are affiliated with.
Patient Connect
The Patient Connect portion of the platform allows the care team to communicate with the parents via one-way text messaging. The messaging allows the care team to communicate small changes or positive milestones with the parents without alarming them with a phone call. It encourages families to log in for updates on the plan of care or for any special event that may have occurred like they took their first full bottle or were weaned to an open crib.
Milk Tracker
The milk tracker solution through the app supports mothers who are pumping. It allows parents to document each pumping session, plus they have access to lactation resources within their particular facility.
How do parents access the AngelEye app?
AngelEye works with the hospitals directly. Once the hospital decides which solutions they would like, they purchase them and will be accessible to the parents accordingly. The app is free for parents, extended family, and friends of the family. For extended family and friends, they will have access to the livestream video of the baby, but to ensure the platform is secure and HIPPA compliant, only the two primary partners in care will have access to the educational materials, communication pieces, and breastfeeding information as well.
The app is accessible via Android, IOS, or any internet enabled device through a web browser. Parents and families will then have access to any of the platforms the hospital has chosen to implement.
Effects of a NICU admission on families
Parents who have a baby admitted to the NICU, endure an immense amount of stress and trauma due to being in a strange place surrounded by unique noises, smells, and equipment. Additionally, they are often fearful of how small their baby is or their appearance in general. Studies have shown that if the parental involvement is not encouraged, it will increase parental role alteration and may negatively affect how parents bond with their baby. Once parents are more knowledgeable about the NICU process, they will become more involved and bond more appropriately.
How has AngelEye’s platform impacted outcomes for NICU families?
Once families are able to see their infant and create a bond, it improves the anxiety endured when they have to leave their child. Jaylee reports that the solutions have also assisted with the mother’s willingness to continue to provide breastmilk since it’s so difficult to wake up and pump without your baby being physically present.
For families who have a baby in the NICU for weeks and months, the AngelEye app helps to connect families. It creates a closeness which serves in many ways and capacities to help the family navigate through their NICU journey. Also, by having a connection and communication with the care team, it helps to encourage parents to speak up, advocate for their child, and really step into the parental role. It is important for NICU parents to be confident in their parental role so they are comfortable when it comes time to take their baby home.
Communication, education, and increased connectedness with NICU families positively impacts outcomes for the infant and their families. Literature has shown that the NICU experience can negatively impact the mental health of the parents and siblings, so using the platforms with all 4 of the solutions together is where AngelEye has seen the most optimal outcomes for the entire family unit. The platforms support the entire family throughout their NICU journey. Additionally, AngelEye offers solutions for families up to 90 days post discharge to support them once they are home with their baby.
Feedback from NICU Families
According to Jaylee, AngelEye has received incredible feedback from NICU families and their extended families. Families who are able to see their baby before going to bed at night have reported feeling more connected to their baby. Families have communicated that it felt incredibly special to have their baby in a hospital where they have made family-centered care a priority.
There have been situations where the mother-baby dyad have endured forced separation due to a need of higher level of care for the infant and her ability to see her infant via the livestream video is priceless. Or for a deployed parent to be able to see their infant for the first time on an AngelEye camera is indescribable. They are able to stay connected from across the world.
How Jaylee’s personal experience as a NICU parent has shaped her personally and professionally
Jaylee’s daughter Everlee was born prematurely after she experienced a fairly uncomplicated pregnancy. Jaylee developed elevated blood pressures and was eventually diagnosed with preeclampsia. Jaylee did receive steroids to assist with lung maturity and Everlee was born at 32 6/7 weeks after Jaylee’s blood pressures were unresponsive to multiple medications. Everlee came out big and screaming according to Jaylee. Everlee spent 25 days in the NICU where Jaylee had previously practiced as a nurse and a director.
Looking back, Jaylee jokes that she has fully experienced the 360 degree NICU experience. During Everlee’s time in the NICU, Jaylee often held her skin-to-skin and reflected on all of the aspects of the NICU journey. As a NICU parent, she was able to view things through a very different lens. She spent a lot of time journaling all of her thoughts, feelings, and ideas. She knew that she was going to use their personal experience to positively impact NICU families in some way.
After their NICU journey, it ignited a fire inside of Jaylee that she already had for family-centered care and lactation in the NICU. She feels privileged and honored to be able to serve in the role she is in at AngelEye Health. To be able to work on new products, innovations, and ways they can leverage technology to really support families and the care team is so meaningful to her.
Jaylee admits that despite all of the years she spent in the NICU professionally, she still felt anxious and uncertain everyday throughout their personal NICU journey. Even though she understood what was happening with IV fluids and feedings, it did not make it any easier or give her peace of mind when she had to leave Everlee each day in the NICU. She fully recognizes that it takes an entire village to work collectively with families to ensure that their child has the best outcomes.
Jaylee is beyond thankful to everyone who took care of her, Everlee, and her husband for that entire month. She hopes that families and clinicians can see the difference their technology can make when families go through the NICU experience.
How is Everelee doing now?
Everlee had just turned 18 months at the time of our recording. Jaylee was hopeful that she was approaching her final NICU follow-up appointment. Jaylee reflects back on her own personal feelings of overwhelm and uncertainty as they brought Everlee home that it was her and her husband’s responsibility to keep Everlee alive and thriving. It reiterated to her how important it is to engage parents early, encourage their involvement, and provide support for families post discharge.
As a NICU parent, she is concerned about all of the neurodevelopmental impacts that may have affected Everlee during her time in the NICU. As parents, they just continue to monitor her and nurture her so she can continue to grow, develop, and thrive. Jaylee is so thankful for her friends and colleagues who have continued to support them throughout their NICU journey and beyond!
Contact AngelEye Health
Closing
It is fantastic that there are companies like AngelEye Health who continue to strive for state-of-the art technology that benefit both our high risk NICU population and their families. I wish that bedside cameras were available when my son was in the NICU, as well as a way for the NICU clinicians to communicate with me. Additionally, the ability to track my pumping sessions would have been very beneficial. I know that the Camera System would have been helpful with the initial and subsequent separation I had to endure each day with my son. I love that AngelEye offers solutions for all NICU families to ease and support them through their journey.
And I want to say a huge thank you to Jaylee, for not only sharing all of the solutions on AngelEye’s platform, but for also openly sharing her personal NICU journey and post-discharge experience with us. It is so fantastic to hear how well Everlee is doing today and I know that Jaylee’s unique perspective as a former NICU clinician and now a NICU Mama will continually drive her passion for providing the most up-to-date advances that promote family-centered care. All of these advances are beneficial for our NICU babies and their families throughout their NICU journey and beyond!
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