We recently delivered our third child at CMMC and Christine was truly the light on the hardest day of our lives. A quiet and uneventful labor turned into an emergency in the blink of an eye and Christine's swift nursing action and compassionate care kept us afloat. Her familiar voice, as she was there to help deliver our first child, was a comfort as events unfolded. She never wavered as she took charge of our emergent situation, her nursing expertise evident with the confidence in which she acted as a leader in the room of chaos while providing direct physical care and emotional support to my husband and me. Her professionalism was exhibited as she worked with the team of staff that flooded the room to collaborate each step as they came, calmly explaining to us as she masked the urgency going on around us. Amidst all of the chaos, she quietly cared for me as a whole patient, physically and emotionally, and us as a family. As I was wheeled off to the OR in terror and alone, leaving my husband behind in our room, the only source of comfort I had was Christine.
She cared for the three of us for the rest of the day, adding glimmers of hope in what we felt like a hopeless time. For the rest of our stay, Christine was not assigned to us, but she never stopped taking care of us. She would stop in throughout her shift to check on us. She listened, she cried and hugged us. And she cheered us on from the nurses' station as we wheeled our sweet boy out of the NICU and over to our room.
There is no way to describe the level of care Christine provided to our family, but I have done the best that words can do with this snippet. There is no way to say thank you enough to nurses like Christine who continuously go above and beyond, outworking their role and expectations, but we can recognize their hard work and dedication to the profession with The DAISY Award. Christine's compassion, empathy, and expertise are a force and it's a force that sets her apart. We will forever hold Christine in our hearts. Thank you.