Carin picked up on significant status changes on a NICU patient who started showing signs of distress after being stable for weeks. Throughout the entire shift, she cared diligently for this infant while his health status continued to deteriorate. She remained focused and very in-tune to the tiniest, but extremely significant, changes, rapidly reporting all concerns and changes to the charge nurse and the nurse practitioner. She practiced continuous composure with excellent critical thinking skills when caring for this patient; rarely leaving his side and finding help from other staff to monitor him if she needed to.

Even though the family had been notified about the infant's change in status, they had not come in. Knowing the family well, Carin was concerned that they weren't completely comprehending how critical their infant had become, how vastly he had changed in such a short period of time. She professionally and appropriately encouraged the medical staff to re-contact the family to encourage them to do all they could to get to the hospital as soon as possible.

Due to Carin's persistence, the parents arrived in time to be able to spend a few hours with their infant before he unfortunately passed away. Were it not for her, this family may have not had the chance to bond with and comfort their baby during the hours before his passing. That experience was not only comforting for the patient, but imperative to the parents as they mourn their child and seek closure.