January 2020
Mary
Thompson
,
RN
NICU
Le Bonheur Children's Hospital
Mary Elizabeth talked to that child as a mother would to her own child, through all of the machines and wires.
My wife and I had our baby in Arkansas, after an emergency C-section. After three days there and tests, tests, and more tests we were told she needed to be taken to Le Bonheur due to a platelet deficiency. We arrived in the middle of the night, were sent to the NICU, and as any new parents would be, were worried sick. The entire staff who treated us were amazing, but Mary Elizabeth's genuine concern, not just for our child, but for all the children around us really stood out to both my wife and me. I walked the halls often late at night, going to get water or a snack for my wife, and often observed Mary in the room next to us, where, for whatever reason, there were no parents present. She talked to that child as a mother would to her own child, through all of the machines and wires. She could have been at the nurses' station, but instead chose to spend those late hours comforting a sick child who had no one else there. She was never dismissive or anything but accommodating to our hundreds of questions (some of which I'm sure were bordering on ridiculous), and her genuine concern that she showed for our daughter, as well as for my wife and me during our time there, stood out to us as being more than just an ordinary nurse, or even a good nurse. She's a great nurse, and Le Bonheur is fortunate to have her.