Krista is not only a technically excellent nurse, but she loves to take care of our more complex patients. There was one particular family whose baby was born with multiple anomalies last May. The parents had only known that their baby would be born with a club foot. When O was delivered prematurely the family soon found out that their baby needed emergency surgery. The family was in shock and disbelief about the condition of their baby. Every time the family came to visit you could feel the high anxiety from the parents. They commented several times "every time we talk to a doctor they tell us something else is wrong with our baby".
Krista began taking care of baby O soon after her initial surgery. Krista was talking with the family about what was "right" about their baby; pointing out how beautiful she was and how she acted so calm when her parents held her. It wasn't long before we saw the parent's anxiety decrease and the parents also commenting on how O was growing and responding more to their voices.
O's hospital course was extremely rocky. Several times the doctors told the family to be prepared for the worst during O's 2 more major surgeries. Many times things looked really bleak for the family, but the family relaxed every time they saw Krista was O's nurse. Krista really gets to know families on a personal level so when they are down they feel comfortable letting her know how sad or stressed they are. Krista is a compassionate listener. O was discharged in October and lived at home 4 weeks before she passed away unexpectedly. Krista was working the day of O's funeral and was unable to attend. O's parents were standing next to a table with family pictures of O and all her siblings. There was a single picture of Krista holding O.
Krista made such a mark on this family's life that they had her picture at their baby's funeral.