Andrea A Murphy, RN

I recently delivered our baby girl at FSRMC, and I had a very long and traumatic labor experience. I was so happy to finally have my baby in my arms, and we spent the first night together. The next morning, at just 12 hours old, my baby was rushed from FSRMC to the NICU at Children’s Hospital for treatment of severely elevated bilirubin levels/jaundice and a potential blood disorder. My heart broke as my baby was whisked away in an incubator and hooked up to lines, tubes, and wires. We were unable to hold her, and her little eyes were covered to protect them from the blue lights. I felt like my chance to bond with her was taken away from me. She had to undergo a rare and risky procedure called an exchange transfusion, where a certain amount of her blood was exchanged with donor blood. Her second night in the NICU, I was at the end of my rope. I was exhausted and in pain, but all I wanted to do was take away my baby’s pain and suffering. All I wanted to do was hold her, kiss her, and let her know that I was there with her. That night, my daughter had a night nurse (Andrea) who changed my life and the whole trajectory of our NICU stay. She saw me. She saw what I needed in that moment and told me that she was there for me, too. She saw my desperation to be close to my baby and allowed me to help her change her bed linen, which meant I got to finally hold my little girl (very carefully above her bassinet). We turned her bilirubin lights off just long enough to take her eye cover off so that I could see her eyes. Andrea talked me through everything and gave me peace of mind. I felt a huge weight lift off of me, and I knew that she was going to be well taken care of. We were lucky enough to have Andrea 4 out of 9 nights that we were there. She treated us as mutuals, made conversation with us, and made a point to get to know us. She even remembered our dogs’ names, our careers, etc. As terrified, young, first-time parents, the respect and love that we were shown made such a positive impact on us and our start into parenthood. It’s difficult to even put into words how thankful we are for the entire NICU staff that cared for H, especially Andrea, who we feel went above and beyond in caring for us and our daughter. Her dedication, bedside manner, knowledge, wisdom, and evident love for her job are unmatched, and she truly deserves recognition. Thank you, Andrea and the entire care team— your hard work and expertise have allowed us to bring our baby girl home and start our lives as a family.