September 2015
Bonnie
Grasty
,
RN
Pediatric Intensive Care Unit
Randall Children's Hospital at Legacy Emanuel
Portland
,
OR
United States

 

 

 

My baby has been in the hospital for 6 weeks and Bonnie is the first nurse who has gone above and beyond in treating my son like a baby that he is, not just a patient. She notices the little things like how boring the ceiling is and how my baby tries to look around so she brought in a mobile and tied it to an IV pole because it wouldn't stay on a warmer. She recognized that E hadn't ever worn baby clothes so she did a little extra work to put him in clothes and made all his tubes and wires work with the outfit. She recognized that I, his mom, hadn't held him for over a week and worked around the breathing tube and IV drips to get him in my arms. When I had to pump or use the bathroom, she came in to lift him up for me and hold him while I got all set-up for pumping then she allowed me to hold my baby while still being able to pump with the baby's safety in mind first. And it made all of the difference for me because I got to hold my baby as much as I wanted without feeling guilty making the nurses work extra to pick him up and put him back with all the tubes and wires every 3 hours when I had to pump. She offered. She recognized.
She put the baby first and treated him like a baby, not just a patient and did baby things like baby clothes, toys, mobiles, bouncers, and getting baby to mom's arms all offering to do so because I was too scared to ask or wasn't sure what was allowed. She took pictures while I was away and printed them out for me and she always taught me little tricks for when I had to care for my baby on my own. E's big milestones are from Bonnie and I really want to recognize her for her compassion and service. I thank you and my extended family thanks you because you have really impacted and improved my baby's life. His whole life has been in the hospital so far and because of you, I see him as a baby for the first time—not just a hospital patient. He is my baby!