Illumination of support areas within the NICU, including the charting areas, medication preparation area, the reception desk, and handwashing areas, shall conform to IESNA specifications(11).

Illumination should be adequate in areas of the NICU where staff perform important or critical tasks; the IESNA specifications in these areas are similar to but somewhat more specific than the general guidelines recommended by AAP/ACOG(2).

In locations where these functions overlap with infant care areas (e.g., close proximity of the staff charting area to infant beds), the design should nevertheless permit separate light sources with independent controls so the very different needs of sleeping infants and working staff can be accommodated to the greatest possible extent. Care must be taken, however, to insure that bright light from these locations does not reach the infants’ eyes (see Standard 14).

Consideration should be given to providing a space easily accessible to all staff that will provide an opportunity for exposure to higher-intensity light levels for at least 15 minutes a shift in order to ameliorate the effects of working at night and Seasonal Affective Disorder(13).  This space can be illuminated with white light to produce 300-500 lux at the eye, which is produced by approximately 1500-2500 lux at the work plane.  If a blue local lighting system is used, the illumination should be from a spectrally narrowband source - such as a blue LED – with a peak wavelength at or near 470 nanometers, and should produce at least 30 lux at the eye(14).