Diseases
Diseases and medical conditions commonly encountered in the NICU.
The product
NICU Jargon Rx™
Your Prescription for Understanding™
A set of physical educational cards that turn the terminology of the NICU into language a family and their care team can share.
ENES English & Español
Because understanding starts with finding the right word.
The language of neonatal care is large. Left as one undifferentiated mass, it stays intimidating.
NICU Jargon Rx divides it into five recognizable groups. Each has its own color, so a card can be found by sight before it is found by reading, which matters at a bedside, at two in the morning, by someone who is exhausted.
The classification
Vocabulary
Important medical terminology and language commonly used in the NICU.
Respiratory
Respiratory concepts, terminology, equipment and conditions in neonatal care.
Nutrition
Nutrition-related concepts and terminology for babies receiving neonatal care.
Imaging
Imaging-related concepts and terminology encountered in the NICU.
Explore the set
Choose a category.
Each category holds its own set of cards, in its own color. Select one to bring its cards forward.
01 · Blue
Diseases
Cards covering diseases and medical conditions commonly encountered in the NICU.
02 · Red
Vocabulary
Cards explaining important medical terminology and language commonly used in the NICU.
03 · Green
Respiratory
Cards focused on respiratory concepts, terminology, equipment and conditions encountered in neonatal care.
04 · Purple
Nutrition
Cards covering nutrition-related concepts and terminology relevant to babies receiving neonatal care.
05 · Orange
Imaging
Cards explaining imaging-related concepts and terminology encountered in the NICU.
Anatomy of a card
Every card is built the same way.
A consistent structure means a reader never has to learn how to read the card, only what it says.
Front
Back
On the front
01
The category
A color band names the category before a single word is read: blue for Diseases, red for Vocabulary, green for Respiratory, purple for Nutrition, orange for Imaging.
02
The term
The word as it is actually used at the bedside, alongside the abbreviation a team is likely to say instead, where there is one.
03
A picture, where one helps
Some terms are far easier to hold onto with a diagram: the anatomy involved, the equipment, or the study itself.
On the back
04
The explanation
The term in plain language, written for someone meeting it for the first time, without thinning out the medicine behind it.
05
Facts, questions and key words
More context. More clarity. Many cards also carry Key Facts worth holding onto, Common Questions a family may want to ask their care team, and the Key Words that travel with the term.
Two languages
ENES English & Español
Now available in Spanish.
NICU Jargon Rx cards are available in English and in Spanish: the same cards, the same categories, the same care taken with the language.
For many units, this is the difference between handing a family a resource and handing them a resource they can actually use. Understanding shouldn’t depend on which language is spoken at the bedside.
English Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia Front
In use
For families.
Keep the cards at the bedside. Pull one out when a word comes up that you don’t know. Read it before rounds so you can follow along, or after rounds so you can catch up.
Take them home. Share them with the grandparents, the sibling, the aunt who keeps asking questions you can’t yet answer.
For care teams.
Hand a family the card while you explain. Leave it with them so the explanation doesn’t have to survive on memory alone. Use them in admission teaching, discharge education, and with families whose first language is Spanish.
Nurses, physicians, advanced practice providers, social workers, child-life specialists and educators all work in the same language gap.
Common questions
Frequently asked.
Yes. NICU Jargon Rx cards are available in English and in Spanish, so the same explanations can be shared with more of the families a unit cares for.
Into five color-coded categories: Diseases (blue), Vocabulary (red), Respiratory (green), Nutrition (purple) and Imaging (orange). The color makes a card findable at a glance; the category name is always printed alongside it.
For NICU families, and for the clinicians, nurses, advanced practice providers, social workers, child-life specialists and educators who teach and support them.
No. NICU Jargon Rx is an educational resource designed to support conversations between families and their care team, not to stand in for them. It does not diagnose or treat any condition and is not a substitute for individualized medical advice from a qualified healthcare professional.
For hospitals & institutions
Bring NICU Jargon Rx to your hospital.
Available in English and Spanish, for units, programs and health systems.