November 2022
Jamie
Clark
,
RN
NICU
The MetroHealth System
Cleveland
,
OH
United States
Jamie left the baby shower and went to the NICU to support the sister and advocate for this baby. She remained with the sister until her brother passed.
In the NICU we are very good at saving tiny lives, premature babies, and sick babies. That is what we do. But to have the grace to realize when we are facilitating the continuation of a life that will be without the quality any one of us would expect and desire and then to advocate for a comfortable and peaceful end to this life; this is commendable. Jamie has a great big heart. There was a premature baby born and we did many invasive procedures to help this baby - intubation, ventilation, umbilical lines, and medication. We did an ultrasound of the baby's brain and found bleeds and devastating damage. This baby had seizures, had no gag reflex, and could not swallow his own saliva. He frequently dropped his heart rate and oxygen saturation requiring stimulation and oral suctioning. The quality of life that he would be living looked very grim and never free from medical intervention. Unexpectedly, this baby's mother died. His 21-year-old sister, who just lost his mother, stepped in to be the voice for her brother. Several meetings with the NICU team, Ethics, Chaplain, and Social Work were had, asking the sister to make a very difficult decision. An order was placed not to reintubate or to do chest compressions in the event of cardiac arrest. But we continued to support this baby and his sister. Hospice was involved. There was talk of transferring the baby to a hospice facility, but we were not sure he would survive the transport. The baby started to require increasing respiratory support. His sister made the decision to decrease support and allow the baby to comfortably pass away while being held. Jamie was at a baby shower when she heard that the sister had made this decision. She left the baby shower and went to the NICU to support the sister and advocate for this baby. She remained with the sister until her brother passed. What a strength to be able to be there for someone at such a difficult time. And to be an advocate for our tiny babies unable to speak for themselves. Thank you, Jamie.