The EVOLVE NICU Program
Bridging the Gap: How the EVOLVE NICU Program is Transforming NICU Respiratory Care
NICU respiratory care began flourishing in the 1970s and 80s, with many therapists being thrown into the NICU and refining their craft over decades. Today, most of these experienced therapists have retired or are nearing retirement, leaving a significant gap in highly trained NICU RTs. The CEO of EVOLVE, an RRT-NPS, saw staff and management frustrated with the shortage and longing for a solution—thus, the company was born.
The shortage of NICU-trained respiratory therapists is a growing challenge for hospitals nationwide. With increasing demands on healthcare systems, many hospitals struggle to staff their NICUs adequately, often relying on expensive premium pay, registry, and travel RTs. But what if hospitals could develop their own highly skilled NICU therapists from within? What if hospitals could come up with a permanent staffing solution within?
That’s exactly what the EVOLVE NICU Program is designed to do.
Inside the EVOLVE NICU Program: A Complete Training Solution
The EVOLVE NICU Program is a 16-week, full-scale training program designed for in-hospital implementation. It provides hospitals with the EVOLVE educational outline, essential documents, forms, and structured guidance to ensure success. The curriculum includes nearly 100 educational modules and an advanced online testing platform that tracks student progress in real-time, keeping both students and program leaders informed.
The program culminates in a rigorous final exam consisting of 150 multiple-choice questions that simulate real-life NICU scenarios. With hundreds of hours of coursework, students who successfully complete the program receive an official certificate of completion from the EVOLVE Program, signifying their readiness to excel in NICU respiratory care.
The EVOLVE NICU Program is more than just training—it’s a transformation. We take respiratory therapists from their foundational understanding of maternal-fetal health and neonatal physiology and guide them through the complexities of advanced NICU care. Our program covers everything from oxygen therapy and ventilator management to managing critically ill neonates with conditions like persistent pulmonary hypertension (PPHN), bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD), and pulmonary interstitial emphesema (PIE). Our students get in depth training in neonatal intubation and delivery room scenarios as well. Through a combination of interactive online learning, in-hospital mentorship, and real-time progress tracking, we ensure that therapists develop both competence and confidence in neonatal respiratory care.
The Financial and Operational Impact on Hospitals
Beyond the clinical benefits, the EVOLVE Program delivers significant cost savings to hospitals. By developing an in-house training program, hospitals can reduce reliance on costly external staffing solutions, cutting expenses by hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars - every year. Additionally, improving RT flexibility across departments enhances staff engagement, reduces turnover, and fosters a more stable, capable workforce.
The program decreases unnecessary overtime by ensuring proper staffing levels, reduces expensive recruiting costs and sign-on bonuses, and improves associate engagement. Many RTs view working in the NICU as the pinnacle of respiratory therapy, making hospitals with the EVOLVE NICU Program more attractive to prospective hires. It draws motivated therapists eager for NICU training—an opportunity that many hospitals do not offer.
Moreover, the program can decrease turnover significantly. Therapists who complete the EVOLVE NICU Program recognize the investment their hospital has made in their career development and are more likely to remain with the organization. Additionally, the program enhances overall staff competency, equipping RTs with the skills necessary to handle serious neonatal-pediatric emergencies in the ER—cases that many RTs might otherwise find daunting due to lack of experience.
Often, NICU/Pediatric RTs and adult RTs work separately within hospitals due to the difficulty of finding therapists with a comprehensive skill set. The EVOLVE Program bridges this gap by equipping RTs with the necessary expertise to function seamlessly across all hospital departments, maximizing staffing flexibility and efficiency.
Real-Life Situations: The Impact of EVOLVE in Action
One of our hospital directors recently shared a powerful example of how the EVOLVE Program is transforming staffing solutions. Just the other day, they experienced two last-minute call-offs in the adult RT unit, leaving them critically short-staffed. Fortunately, two therapists scheduled in the NICU that day were graduates of the EVOLVE NICU Program. The supervisor and educator were able to step in and cover the NICU while the two EVOLVE graduates filled the vacant adult RT shifts, because they were trained in all areas of the hospital. This seamless staffing adjustment allowed the hospital to maintain patient care standards without resorting to premium pay or external staffing solutions.
Elevating NICU Respiratory Care, One Hospital at a Time
Hospitals no longer have to rely solely on limited external hiring pools to find NICU-trained RTs. With the EVOLVE NICU Program, they can build their own internal pipeline of highly skilled therapists, ensuring quality care for their smallest and most vulnerable patients. These therapists also can now work seamlessly through all areas of the hospital, making your staffing more flexible.
Want to learn how the EVOLVE NICU Program can help your hospital? Contact us here and take the first step toward transforming your respiratory care department.