Kent Bennion
August 2023
Kent
Bennion
,
BSN, RN
NICU
Primary Children's Hospital- Intermountain Health
Salt Lake City
,
UT
United States

 

 

 

The next time I went into the room the mom's whole demeanor had changed. She was chatty, smiling and joking with D. Kent's presence had made all the difference in the world.
Recently, I was caring for a patient on ICS, D. She is a new cancer patient having her first round of chemotherapy. Both mom and D had had a rough night and were feeling discouraged. Before coming on shift, her parents were talking about when they stayed at PCH with their other daughter in the NICU in 2021/2022. As I was caring for D, I mentioned that I was a float pool nurse and worked all over the hospital. D's mom asked if I worked in the NICU, and I said yes, pretty regularly. She asked if a nurse named Kent still worked in the NICU. I told her that I was pretty certain that he still was working here and hadn't retired yet, which she had heard he had. She told me that Kent was her other daughter's primary nurse and he had taken such good care of them. As they thought about this current stay, they were reminded of those NICU days, and they were hoping to talk with Kent. I left the room and called Kent on vocera. He happened to be working. I explained that I was caring for a sibling of one of his primary patients from years ago and the family was hoping to connect with him. He said that he would try to come over and see them later in the day. About 15 minutes later, Kent Bennion came walking down the ICS halls looking for my patient and her family. I was excited to see the mom's surprise when she saw Kent, so I knocked on the door and told her she had a visitor. When she saw Kent, she got a huge grin on her face, sat up, and exclaimed, "Oooh! Can I hug you? Kent walked right in and said, "Of course you can!" He gave her a hug and asked her how she was doing. I didn't stay, but the next time I went into the room the mom's whole demeanor had changed. She was chatty, smiling and joking with D. Kent's presence had made all the difference in the world. I know that as their primary NICU nurse 2 years ago, Kent gave this family the same care, compassion, hope, and encouragement then as he did now. I know that Kent gives this same level of care to all his patients, and he is very deserving of the DAISY Award!