Our journey to have a family hasn't been easy. Through fertility, we found out we were blessed with a little girl. Our family couldn't have been happier. Our son was so excited to become a big brother. After experiencing a variety of complications, my water broke at 16 weeks. It was then communicated to me that I was going to need to deliver our daughter, as I was at severe risk of becoming infected, and at the gestation, it was not compatible with life. Being told we were going to lose our dream come true broke every piece of our hearts. We had so many dreams and plans for our daughter and our family. Two days later, we returned to the hospital for our most dreaded visit.
Deena was the RN assigned to us about 10 hours after we checked in. She came in to do bedside reporting and had the kindest eyes. I apologized to her for her assignment, as an RN myself, I know that no one goes into L&D for the sad days. It's typically a joyous unit with people experiencing the happiest days of their lives. Deena smiled at me and said, "I'm exactly where I need to be today." She kept this sentiment throughout the entire day. As time passed and the medicine wasn't working as planned, she communicated with the Dr. and us. She would come in and chat with us to keep us company but also giving us space and time to be together. She found the sweetest garments to wrap our little angel. More time went on and it was time for her shift to end. She hugged us goodbye and asked that if we happened to be there the following day if we were okay with having her again. I was blown away by her kindness. We were more than okay with it. I just couldn't believe that someone would be so selfless as to voluntarily request to be with a patient who was going to have such a sad outcome.
Unfortunately, the next day we were still there, with no progress, and we were lucky enough to have Deena again. At this point, I knew something needed to change as I was on my third day of being in the hospital and I terribly missed our son at home. Given his young age, he wasn't too aware of the situation. While we were waiting to try a new protocol, I was able to have our son come to the hospital, which brought me a great amount of peace. It was on this day we delivered our angel, with the help of Deena and other members of the team. Deena was able to get the most precious handprints and fingerprints of our sweet baby girl. They were so tiny. She was able to get a weight and measurements that we have and cherish. She also arranged for us to have many pictures taken with our little girl. I am beyond grateful for these memories today.
Deena truly exudes what it means to be a nurse. She is compassionate, kind, caring, and puts her patients' needs first. She exemplifies the Meaning of Care and is most deserving of this award. Anyone that is lucky enough to have her as their nurse will leave feeling they were touched by an angel.