Christina Wheeler
July 2018
Christina
Wheeler
,
RN
Intermediate NICU
The Woman's Hospital of Texas
Houston
,
TX
United States

 

 

 

Our son was born at 32 weeks and other than being born early, he was very healthy. Everyone was great, but he was quickly labeled a "feeder and grower" so it often felt like we were given less attention because our son simply needed rest and time. While there was truth to him needing both, our luck slowly started turning the day we met Christina Wheeler.
Christina worked with our son, B, and made careful observations that others didn't take the time to make. Because of her close attention to our baby, she was able to make changes during B's assessments and recommendations to OT that drastically improved his feeding. We are deeply convinced that we would still be in the NICU had it not been for her doing this.
Our insurance designates a specific physician that sees patients at the hospital. We don't see "our" pediatrician until discharge. Christina was an excellent mediator and helped communicate our wishes when we felt they weren't being heard. This helped reduce our stress and cope with being "stuck".
When our guests would visit B in our absence, Christina was wonderful. She helped build the confidence of our son's grandparents. Christina strictly enforced rules by checking for ID bracelets, visitor identification and that only parents were present for the shift changes. She was also careful with what information she gave to our family members which was wonderful because we have family that overshares on social media.
While Christina was always busy, we constantly heard her asking other nurses if she could help them in the few moments she had to spare. On several occasions we overheard other nurses going to Christina for advice and questions regarding their patients. She has clearly won the respect of her peers.