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NICU discharge checklist
A printable list for the last week before your baby comes home. Work through it with your nurse, and bring it to the discharge meeting. Your NICU’s own instructions always come first.
Tick the boxes on screen or on paper. Nothing you tick here is saved or sent anywhere.
Your care team
Medications and feeding
Equipment
Coming home with a tracheostomy? Our trach guide lists the full equipment set and the teaching most programs require.
Skills I have practiced, not just watched
Nursing at home and Medicaid
Discharge dates move faster than Medicaid authorizations. If a referral for home nursing has not been made yet, ask for it today. Our line for hospital staff is 404-771-2570, and families can call 678-459-2590. If your income is over the regular Medicaid limit, read how Katie Beckett works.
The trip home and the first night
Questions families ask
When should in-home nursing be arranged for a NICU baby?
Before discharge. A referral made while your baby is still admitted lets the physician paperwork and the Medicaid steps run alongside discharge planning, instead of after you are already home.
Does GAPP cover babies coming home from the NICU?
GAPP covers children from birth to 21 whose daily care needs a nurse or trained caregiver. Many NICU graduates qualify, often because of a tracheostomy, a feeding tube, oxygen or seizures. Georgia Medicaid decides who is approved and how many hours.
What if nursing is not approved by the discharge date?
It happens. Families sometimes cover the first days or weeks themselves while the authorization is reviewed. Starting the referral early is what shrinks that window, but the pace of the state's review is not something any agency controls.
Call before discharge if you can.
Tell us about your baby and a real person will walk you through what comes next. No cost, no obligation.
Check eligibility Call 678-459-2590Keep reading
This checklist is a general guide for families and is not medical advice. Follow your NICU team’s discharge instructions. HeartPath Home Care is an approved provider for the Georgia Pediatric Program. We are not a government agency, and this page is not an official publication of the Georgia Department of Community Health or Georgia Medicaid. It is a plain-language guide for families. Eligibility for GAPP, Medicaid and Katie Beckett is determined solely by Georgia Medicaid and the state agencies that administer them, based on your child's documented medical needs. Program rules and figures change.