Having a child in the NICU is something no parent can truly prepare for. You know it exists, but always think it will never happen to your family. Well, having a child in the NICU is exactly what happened to me, and my husband, and this nomination is way past due.

Leighann was there from day one with our babies and whenever we knew she was the one taking care of them it was such a weight off of our shoulders. I believe she made it a point to keep us updated on their progress and made sure we knew each new thing they were doing no matter how small.

Compassion- Leighann made you feel involved every step of the way. She made us feel comfortable helping with care for our babies and that meant the world to us. We saw how much she loves what she does and that showed in the care she gave.

Trust- TRUST! We can't say enough about trust. We were literally leaving a part of ourselves in the NICU every day. Knowing Leighann was there made it so much easier to take some time for ourselves and get what little rest we could. We could leave knowing our babies were getting the best care possible. We trusted Leighann more than anyone at the time. I think a lot of that trust came from her taking so much of her time to make sure all of our questions and concerns were answered.

Respect- Leighann never made us feel like we had too many questions, or like our concerns weren't valued. If we had questions, she made sure they got answered, even if she wasn't able to answer them herself. She always made sure we understood what was going on and what the next step was for our babies.

Teamwork- The NICU was honestly a scary experience because in the beginning my husband and I didn't know what to expect. We got to know the NICU team from day one in the delivery room, and Leighann was one of those wonderful nurses. Throughout our experience, we got to see how the NICU team works, and we think a lot of different units in the hospital could benefit from seeing them. My husband and I think Leighann exemplifies teamwork because no matter how busy the NICU got she was always working to help her coworkers. There were also times we thought she lived there because she was always there. But even with this, she was always in a good mood and that showed how she loved what she did.

Innovation- My husband and I had the pleasure of getting to know Leighann a little bit during our time there and found out she is in a Master's program called Masters of Healthcare Innovation... so we think she exemplifies this because it’s obvious it is a passion in her life. She told us that she's not certain what she wants to do with it but wants to stay with UHS and we think she will be an asset where ever she chooses to work.

The whole UHS NICU team was great, but we feel like Leighann truly went above and beyond for our babies, we couldn't have asked for a better nurse and a better NICU experience! Thank you to her and everything she did for us. She was amazing!