Johns Hopkins Children’s Center’s Neurosciences Intensive Care Nursery (NICN) provides comprehensive and coordinated assessment and treatment for newborns who are at high risk of neurological injury or who have clinical evidence of developmental brain abnormalities.

Located within the Sutland/Pakula Family Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), The NICN is on Level 8 of The Charlotte R. Bloomberg Children’s Center.

With ongoing efforts in clinical care, research, and education, the Johns Hopkins NICN is fulfilling its mission to utilize clinical, research, and educational best practices and start of the art innovation in all areas to improve outcomes of NICU infants at risk for neurologic deficits.

Learn more about research and education from the NICN 

Services We Offer

• whole-body therapeutic hypothermia for the treatment of neonatal hypoxic- ischemic brain injury
• an MRI-compatible incubator that allows for much easier access to advanced neuroimaging for term and preterm infants
• full-montage 24 hours video EEG, available from Pediatric Neurophysiology
• cerebral oximeter monitors currently used for clinical research trials for estimate cerebral perfusion

Our services also include physical, speech, language, and occupational therapies, along with early neurodevelopmental evaluation, using state of the art techniques. 

Programs and Initiatives

The NICN was developed to capitalize on advances in neonatal neurological care to improve the care of our babies in Johns Hopkins Children's Center's NICU and after their discharge. Major expansion of partner programs from Neurodevelopmental Pediatrics at Kennedy Kreiger Institute (including the Infant Neurodevelopment Center), Johns Hopkins Pediatric Neurology, and Johns Hopkins Pediatric Neuroradiology are continually benefitting our babies .

Other enhancements of care for NICN patients include neurology focused initiatives for quality and safety, and frequent protocol updates to ensure best practices are in place.