May 2022
Mason
Elder
,
BSN, RN
NICU
Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center
Cincinnati
,
OH
United States
Mason snapped us back to reality and made that scary incident into a more calm environment. She worked hard for our son. She got him stable and then told me to come to look at him and see for myself that he was okay.
I don’t know where we would be without her. Mason was able to keep her cool and make us feel like he has a chance. She gave us hope and confirmation. Mason is a prime example of what every nurse should strive to be like. Every time we took steps back, she was there to explain things and be a light to us in the dark. When things went great and we made progress, she was there to celebrate with us. Mason was there through thick and thin and always made sure my son was taken care of to the best of her ability. She was honestly my son’s best friend and she made him smile, comforted him when he was scared or upset. She is a big part of our son's recovery. She made us not feel so broken.
When we came to Cincinnati Children's, our hometown doctors didn’t give us any hope, Mason held our hands and helped us regain our hope and we are forever grateful for the care and encouragement she gave not only to us as his parents but for him as well. Mason was not only a fantastic nurse but also an amazing friend to our son. My son has a lot of abnormalities and she never let that stop her from treating him like he was human. She did not treat him as different or disregard him. She instead, held his hand and talked to him as we do. She held him when he was so agitated that nothing else worked. She taught us, as new parents, how to read his emotions and body language, how to communicate with him, and to be the best parents we can be to my son.
Mason listened to our concerns and eased our minds when it came to setbacks or procedures. Mason knew our story and knew that our hometown had taken all our joy and hope away. She knew my mind would automatically go to the worst-case scenario in a moment's time. She taught us how to read his monitors, which helped tremendously. She was always honest and never lied to tried to hide anything from us. She allowed us to be a part of his assessments, allowing us to change his diapers and dress him. She allowed us to be his parents and care for him and that meant the world to us. As you know NICU takes that maternal extinct away and her allowing us to be a part of his assessments and cares has given that back. It taught us how to be parents and how to understand what his abnormalities meant for his care. We are forever grateful.
My son went downhill quickly one afternoon. His respirations and heart rate were low. We walked into the room in the middle of it all. I remember hearing commands of this and that medication, hearing alarms, and seeing a room full of people hovering over my son deep into discussion and plan tactics. Our world as parents paused. Everything was in slow motion and then I hear “Momma! Look at me. Don’t let your mind go there. I got him. He’s okay. This is just a case of coincidence. He just needs some extra support.” She snapped us back to reality and made that scary incident into a more calm environment. She worked hard for our son. She got him stable and then told me to come to look at him and see for myself that he was okay. She stood beside us as we looked down and saw him looking back up at us. She had taken such good care of him and watched him so closely that I truly believe if she was not there that day, my son may not have had the same calm outcome. She never made us feel like a burden or let him see her worry, as we are believers that babies sense your emotions and feed off that.
When it comes to my son, Mason made sure that in all the chaos that is his care, we were always involved. If we didn’t understand, she always explained to us where we could grasp everything that was going on. She broke things down for us and made sure that any and all questions were always answered. If anything changed in his care, she made sure we were always aware of the changes and what that exactly meant in terms of my son. We were never left in the dark when it came to our son. She prepared us well for our move from the NICU to the CICU in terms of what to expect. Mason, since the first time we met her, has always made this momma not feel so broken anymore. She will always be remembered to us as my son’s first best friend and the greatest nurse Cincinnati Children’s NICU has ever seen.
When we came to Cincinnati Children's, our hometown doctors didn’t give us any hope, Mason held our hands and helped us regain our hope and we are forever grateful for the care and encouragement she gave not only to us as his parents but for him as well. Mason was not only a fantastic nurse but also an amazing friend to our son. My son has a lot of abnormalities and she never let that stop her from treating him like he was human. She did not treat him as different or disregard him. She instead, held his hand and talked to him as we do. She held him when he was so agitated that nothing else worked. She taught us, as new parents, how to read his emotions and body language, how to communicate with him, and to be the best parents we can be to my son.
Mason listened to our concerns and eased our minds when it came to setbacks or procedures. Mason knew our story and knew that our hometown had taken all our joy and hope away. She knew my mind would automatically go to the worst-case scenario in a moment's time. She taught us how to read his monitors, which helped tremendously. She was always honest and never lied to tried to hide anything from us. She allowed us to be a part of his assessments, allowing us to change his diapers and dress him. She allowed us to be his parents and care for him and that meant the world to us. As you know NICU takes that maternal extinct away and her allowing us to be a part of his assessments and cares has given that back. It taught us how to be parents and how to understand what his abnormalities meant for his care. We are forever grateful.
My son went downhill quickly one afternoon. His respirations and heart rate were low. We walked into the room in the middle of it all. I remember hearing commands of this and that medication, hearing alarms, and seeing a room full of people hovering over my son deep into discussion and plan tactics. Our world as parents paused. Everything was in slow motion and then I hear “Momma! Look at me. Don’t let your mind go there. I got him. He’s okay. This is just a case of coincidence. He just needs some extra support.” She snapped us back to reality and made that scary incident into a more calm environment. She worked hard for our son. She got him stable and then told me to come to look at him and see for myself that he was okay. She stood beside us as we looked down and saw him looking back up at us. She had taken such good care of him and watched him so closely that I truly believe if she was not there that day, my son may not have had the same calm outcome. She never made us feel like a burden or let him see her worry, as we are believers that babies sense your emotions and feed off that.
When it comes to my son, Mason made sure that in all the chaos that is his care, we were always involved. If we didn’t understand, she always explained to us where we could grasp everything that was going on. She broke things down for us and made sure that any and all questions were always answered. If anything changed in his care, she made sure we were always aware of the changes and what that exactly meant in terms of my son. We were never left in the dark when it came to our son. She prepared us well for our move from the NICU to the CICU in terms of what to expect. Mason, since the first time we met her, has always made this momma not feel so broken anymore. She will always be remembered to us as my son’s first best friend and the greatest nurse Cincinnati Children’s NICU has ever seen.