A mother delivered premature twins at this hospital at the end of August. The twins were admitted to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU). Unfortunately, the mother's condition deteriorated to such an extent that she was admitted to the adult Intensive Care Unit (ICU). At one point, she was even intubated.

Her twins in the NICU were being cared for by three nurses; Amy Smith, Ashley Liang and Jenae Redmon. On a daily basis, they would leave the NICU to visit the mother in the ICU. During these visits, they would carry pictures of the twins and beautifully decorated cards with the infants' handprints and footprints that they had made. They offered encouraging words of support as they gave daily updates to the mother about her infants' progress in the NICU. At one point the mother communicated by writing. When things got worse and the mother could not speak because of medication and intubation, they still visited to give words of comfort and encouragement to the family.

To me, the behaviors embraced by these nurses demonstrated compassionate care, positive communication skills. They also significantly made a difference in the lives of the mother and family of the premature infants. These nurses should be commended for going the extra mile for a mother who never had the opportunity to physically bond with her newborn babies.