Jenna Reed is exactly the type of nurse every parent hopes for when bringing their child to the NICU - caring, knowledgeable, relatable, and dependable. She was precisely that and so much more for our baby boy.
A particular situation that comes to mind is when Jenna picked up an extra shift when our son had surgery, and then she worked four days in a row (one half-day but then stayed an extra two hours) to make sure she was available to train us on everything we needed to know for discharge. She was a liaison at our care-conference when all the specialty doctors were trying to figure out the best plan for our son.
After patiently listening for over an hour, Jenna spoke up and made a recommendation on which everyone could agree. When his labs came back, she grabbed his little hands and gently celebrated "Yea!" with him. She celebrated with him, along with us, every step of the way. We still do this celebration with our son today when he reaches every small achievement!
Jenna searched and searched for the G-Tube training baby multiple times to give us full knowledge before the decision was made for him to have surgery. She skipped lunch many, many days to care for our son while also taking care of her other responsibilities.
The situation that sticks out in my mind the most is when we were trying to figure out a feeding plan for him. Whenever it was feeding time we would push to give him a bottle.
Jenna kindly asked, "Let me understand why you want to try, and bottle feed every time." I told her that we want him to come home and this is the way that we understand he can come home more quickly. Jenna suggested that maybe feeding him with the bottle every feed was making him work harder than his body needed. She was kind, sympathetic, and insightful. She didn't make me feel like she knew more than me. She simply suggested the plan of action that was appropriate for our baby.
Jenna is an outstanding nurse who truly cares for her patients and their family. We are so blessed to have had Jenna care for our family.