July 2021
Christina
Doukas
,
APRN
NICU
Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center
Cincinnati
,
OH
United States
From the first night she arrived to the day we transferred out, Christina was educating us.
Christina holds a special place in our family's heart. When we transferred to Cincinnati Children's NICU from a hospital in Florida, we were in such new territory. She was the first APN to take care of our daughter and in the next 7 weeks would come to know our daughter like the back of her hand and become such an important part of her team.
That first night came full circle when Christina was the APN who handed our daughter off in our transition to the TCC. The transition week was so hard. It happened quickly and we were not mentally prepared for it. The day before and the day of our transfer, Christina spent so much time simply reassuring me and answering crazy questions that kept popping into my mind. She bent over backward to ease my nerves as well as stay in touch with my wife over the phone while she was stuck at work. It was evident that this was more than a job for Christina. She loves what she does with a passion that we hadn’t experienced previously. Her presence was a comfort to our family. She made sure the TCC team was as up-to-date as possible with our daughter’s care and knew her as well as she did before we left the floor.
Throughout her time in the NICU, Christina was a huge advocate for our daughter’s wellbeing as well as ours as parents. She empowered me to stand up in rounds and share my thoughts. That is something I am so thankful for. It's intimidating to stand before a group of medical professionals and share your "non" medical expertise. But she walked through everything with us and was very clearly on our side while we were in the NICU.
Transfer day - she circled back around to check on how I was feeling on our daughter’s transfer day and spent so much time listening to me ramble about my fears and apprehensions. After 3 months in two different NICU's, I know that APN's are busy and that they cannot always spend as much time as they would love to with families. But she made us a priority. She ensured we were up to date at all times with the care. The intentionality she had in approaching her job stood out. She was the best APN we could ask for and exactly whom our family needed.
It’s not just one moment with Christina. From the first night she arrived to the day we transferred out, Christina was educating us. She had a unique way of inviting us into the process that we didn't experience with any other APN. When we attended rounds with Christina we felt included in a way that felt different than other rounds. She was so inviting and unassuming in her approach which helped give me the confidence to actually be involved in my daughter’s care. A moment that I will never forget is our final goodbye to Christina. Literally minutes away from leaving the NICU, Christina came by to say a final goodbye. We had already seen her/spoken with her about the transfer and it wouldn't have been surprising if we didn't get to see her again. However, she made an intentional effort to come back and have an actual goodbye. It was emotional and there were tears because when someone makes an impact as Christina did, it's too hard to just move on. That goodbye and the well wishes literally meant the world to us and gave us peace as we left the NICU.
As mentioned above, rounds were just different with Christina. It felt like she went out of her way to include us in the decisions, and we were always able to get in touch with her when we needed to. She was so present in our daughter’s care that it felt like we were able to have pre-rounds round with her where she made sure she knew how we were feeling and that we were comfortable with everything going on. That alone was so helpful for making sure we were on the same page as her care team. And if something made us uncomfortable, we knew that Christina would hear us out and take what we had to say seriously.
That first night came full circle when Christina was the APN who handed our daughter off in our transition to the TCC. The transition week was so hard. It happened quickly and we were not mentally prepared for it. The day before and the day of our transfer, Christina spent so much time simply reassuring me and answering crazy questions that kept popping into my mind. She bent over backward to ease my nerves as well as stay in touch with my wife over the phone while she was stuck at work. It was evident that this was more than a job for Christina. She loves what she does with a passion that we hadn’t experienced previously. Her presence was a comfort to our family. She made sure the TCC team was as up-to-date as possible with our daughter’s care and knew her as well as she did before we left the floor.
Throughout her time in the NICU, Christina was a huge advocate for our daughter’s wellbeing as well as ours as parents. She empowered me to stand up in rounds and share my thoughts. That is something I am so thankful for. It's intimidating to stand before a group of medical professionals and share your "non" medical expertise. But she walked through everything with us and was very clearly on our side while we were in the NICU.
Transfer day - she circled back around to check on how I was feeling on our daughter’s transfer day and spent so much time listening to me ramble about my fears and apprehensions. After 3 months in two different NICU's, I know that APN's are busy and that they cannot always spend as much time as they would love to with families. But she made us a priority. She ensured we were up to date at all times with the care. The intentionality she had in approaching her job stood out. She was the best APN we could ask for and exactly whom our family needed.
It’s not just one moment with Christina. From the first night she arrived to the day we transferred out, Christina was educating us. She had a unique way of inviting us into the process that we didn't experience with any other APN. When we attended rounds with Christina we felt included in a way that felt different than other rounds. She was so inviting and unassuming in her approach which helped give me the confidence to actually be involved in my daughter’s care. A moment that I will never forget is our final goodbye to Christina. Literally minutes away from leaving the NICU, Christina came by to say a final goodbye. We had already seen her/spoken with her about the transfer and it wouldn't have been surprising if we didn't get to see her again. However, she made an intentional effort to come back and have an actual goodbye. It was emotional and there were tears because when someone makes an impact as Christina did, it's too hard to just move on. That goodbye and the well wishes literally meant the world to us and gave us peace as we left the NICU.
As mentioned above, rounds were just different with Christina. It felt like she went out of her way to include us in the decisions, and we were always able to get in touch with her when we needed to. She was so present in our daughter’s care that it felt like we were able to have pre-rounds round with her where she made sure she knew how we were feeling and that we were comfortable with everything going on. That alone was so helpful for making sure we were on the same page as her care team. And if something made us uncomfortable, we knew that Christina would hear us out and take what we had to say seriously.