I just wanted to share my story about an extraordinary nurse and how Amy Crites went above and beyond to make sure my wife and I were comforted and taken care of. To give some background, both my wife and I are both nurses. I work in the ICU environment, and my wife works in the ED. We were both paramedics with 15+ years of experience, and we thought we were prepared for almost anything. Boy, were we wrong.

My wife became pregnant with our first child and had a very normal, and as she says, “easy pregnancy”; that is, until we went to be induced. Amy, who now works as clinical coordinator in PACU (where I just transferred to) had checked on me earlier in the day to see how we were doing; I had told her all was well. They say some people have a sixth sense in nursing, and I am a firm believer that Amy has that sense.

Within a few hours of being induced, baby M (my son), started showing signs of distress. Like I said earlier, I thought I was ready for anything. I was not ready for that. Amy, being a former L&D nurse, provided a calm and reassuring voice to both me and my wife. She stayed on the phone, texted, and answered any and all questions my wife and I had. Amy, after working all day, stayed up and kept us calm well past midnight the first night. M continued to have “Good hours’ and then “bad hours” for the next 24 hours. She was a godsend, and she was the unseen voice that kept us calm.

Towards the end of the second day, M started really becoming distressed. The doctor and his entire team came running into the room and said that M's heart rate had dropped and they needed to do an emergent c-section. She recognized that I again was distressed (freaking out is a more accurate description) and talked me through everything. She remained available and continued to answer and reassure me until M was born. She did this unselfishly and out of the goodness of her heart. She quickly recognized how distressed I was and stepped in without a thought for herself. When I thanked her for the 100th time for being there for me, she said, “I’m just glad an old L&D nurse could still be useful and help.” This statement says volumes about Amy as a nurse and as a person. Amy is the nurse I want to be: always there, always caring. She is an inspiration to all and truly encompasses what it means to be a nurse.