July 2012
Amanda G.
Smith
,
RN, BSN
NICU
Prisma Health Richland Hospital
Columbia
,
SC
United States
I am nominating Amanda G. Smith, RN, from the NICU for the DAISY Award. Amanda meets and exceeds all of the criteria: Compassion, Excellence, Professionalism, Selflessness, Integrity, Dignity and I will explain below.
I was admitted to the hospital (Labor and Delivery) on November 8, 2011. I was carrying identical twin girls and was 26 weeks and 4 days pregnant. They had Twin-to-twin Transfusion Syndrome and were not doing well. My doctor thought I would be delivering within days, but by the Grace of God, I was able to carry them until 30Weeks and 5 days. The babies were born on December 10, 2011. K was born with severe hydrops (edema) and although she weighed 4lb 5oz, she was extremely sick. C was much smaller at only 1lb 10 oz. They were both immediately admitted to the NICU, and our very long NICU journey began.
I could tell you so much about so many of the nurses in the NICU and the love and care and support they gave to us. They are an amazing group of nurses, doctors, specialists, therapists, and other staff. We lost our sweet K after only two days, but that is another story. This is about our interaction with Amanda, who took care of C. C, although only the size of a 26weeker, excelled once she was out of the womb. And she had great care. Amanda cared for her within the first few days, and we immediately were drawn to her loving and compassionate nature, not only for C, but for us as the parents. I remember her telling me one day as I was panicking when the alarms were going off that I needed to watch the baby and know the signs if the baby was struggling, and not to get stressed out by the alarms. She said “Training the parents is the hardest part!” And she did a great job of training me so that I could be a very hands on mother in the NICU and bond with my baby in an environment in which bonding can be difficult. The first time I saw my husband smile again after we lost K was when he came home from visiting C one day and proudly showed me a picture – he had been the first person to get to hold C. Amanda’s doing!
Throughout our time in the NICU (12 long weeks) we saw Amanda demonstrate the utmost Professionalism and Excellence in care, not only with us, but with all of her patients. Originally I thought she was just drawn to C, and perhaps gave her all to her since she was C’s primary nurse, but over time, I saw that Amanda treated all of her babies with the same kind of love and care, and makes all of the parents feel as though our families are the most important family to her. She always checked and double checked to ensure C was getting all of the care that she needed, and more importantly she educated us on the types of things that we should look out for, how to care for her, and what services or additional help we should be looking for. She is so competent and knowledgeable and at ease – it certainly eased my concerns and I knew my baby was in good hands. Amanda also went above and beyond to ensure that C was always comfortable, clean, in fresh clothes, had fresh bedding, and even made the cutest bows to put on C’s hat. She also made one for C’s big sister!
Her integrity is demonstrated daily in the way that she goes about her job and taking care of the babies. There were often times that I would be curious about other situations, but no matter how many times I asked her questions, she always told me she could not talk about it. I appreciated that!
Amanda demonstrated selflessness on many occasions, but in particular, she re-arranged her schedule several times to come in on her off days so that she could care for C (and take care of me!) when C had to have surgery. I felt so calm knowing that Amanda would be there to make sure all went well. There were times that Amanda was scheduled in a different room and did not have C, but she would always stop by and check in on us and make sure everything was going well. There was never a doubt in my mind that she adored our daughter.
Amanda handled our situation with dignity. She let me know in so many ways that she knew we had been through something very difficult, and she did her best to make our situation as easy as possible. Although I know she had a lot of work to do, Amanda always took the time to talk with us, to get to know us, to make sure we were handling everything well and had everything we needed to be successful. She truly made me feel like I mattered and that my baby and I were and are important to her in a time when I was struggling to keep it together.
Amanda has become part of our journey, part of our family. She will always be a large part of the reason why we were able to make it through those trying 12 weeks without losing our minds. Since we have been out of the NICU, Amanda has stayed in touch with us and followed C’s progress. We text, we have seen each other at the March of Dimes March for Babies and the NICU graduation party. At both events she sought us out and insisted on spending as much time with C as possible.
Amanda certainly demonstrates all of the qualities that this award program is seeking to reward. There is no doubt her compassion and clinical excellence made a tremendous impact on our 12 week stay in the NICU and she deserves recognition!
I was admitted to the hospital (Labor and Delivery) on November 8, 2011. I was carrying identical twin girls and was 26 weeks and 4 days pregnant. They had Twin-to-twin Transfusion Syndrome and were not doing well. My doctor thought I would be delivering within days, but by the Grace of God, I was able to carry them until 30Weeks and 5 days. The babies were born on December 10, 2011. K was born with severe hydrops (edema) and although she weighed 4lb 5oz, she was extremely sick. C was much smaller at only 1lb 10 oz. They were both immediately admitted to the NICU, and our very long NICU journey began.
I could tell you so much about so many of the nurses in the NICU and the love and care and support they gave to us. They are an amazing group of nurses, doctors, specialists, therapists, and other staff. We lost our sweet K after only two days, but that is another story. This is about our interaction with Amanda, who took care of C. C, although only the size of a 26weeker, excelled once she was out of the womb. And she had great care. Amanda cared for her within the first few days, and we immediately were drawn to her loving and compassionate nature, not only for C, but for us as the parents. I remember her telling me one day as I was panicking when the alarms were going off that I needed to watch the baby and know the signs if the baby was struggling, and not to get stressed out by the alarms. She said “Training the parents is the hardest part!” And she did a great job of training me so that I could be a very hands on mother in the NICU and bond with my baby in an environment in which bonding can be difficult. The first time I saw my husband smile again after we lost K was when he came home from visiting C one day and proudly showed me a picture – he had been the first person to get to hold C. Amanda’s doing!
Throughout our time in the NICU (12 long weeks) we saw Amanda demonstrate the utmost Professionalism and Excellence in care, not only with us, but with all of her patients. Originally I thought she was just drawn to C, and perhaps gave her all to her since she was C’s primary nurse, but over time, I saw that Amanda treated all of her babies with the same kind of love and care, and makes all of the parents feel as though our families are the most important family to her. She always checked and double checked to ensure C was getting all of the care that she needed, and more importantly she educated us on the types of things that we should look out for, how to care for her, and what services or additional help we should be looking for. She is so competent and knowledgeable and at ease – it certainly eased my concerns and I knew my baby was in good hands. Amanda also went above and beyond to ensure that C was always comfortable, clean, in fresh clothes, had fresh bedding, and even made the cutest bows to put on C’s hat. She also made one for C’s big sister!
Her integrity is demonstrated daily in the way that she goes about her job and taking care of the babies. There were often times that I would be curious about other situations, but no matter how many times I asked her questions, she always told me she could not talk about it. I appreciated that!
Amanda demonstrated selflessness on many occasions, but in particular, she re-arranged her schedule several times to come in on her off days so that she could care for C (and take care of me!) when C had to have surgery. I felt so calm knowing that Amanda would be there to make sure all went well. There were times that Amanda was scheduled in a different room and did not have C, but she would always stop by and check in on us and make sure everything was going well. There was never a doubt in my mind that she adored our daughter.
Amanda handled our situation with dignity. She let me know in so many ways that she knew we had been through something very difficult, and she did her best to make our situation as easy as possible. Although I know she had a lot of work to do, Amanda always took the time to talk with us, to get to know us, to make sure we were handling everything well and had everything we needed to be successful. She truly made me feel like I mattered and that my baby and I were and are important to her in a time when I was struggling to keep it together.
Amanda has become part of our journey, part of our family. She will always be a large part of the reason why we were able to make it through those trying 12 weeks without losing our minds. Since we have been out of the NICU, Amanda has stayed in touch with us and followed C’s progress. We text, we have seen each other at the March of Dimes March for Babies and the NICU graduation party. At both events she sought us out and insisted on spending as much time with C as possible.
Amanda certainly demonstrates all of the qualities that this award program is seeking to reward. There is no doubt her compassion and clinical excellence made a tremendous impact on our 12 week stay in the NICU and she deserves recognition!