My wife delivered our first daughter at Mercy West. Right after delivery, our baby girl was taken right to the NICU for a few hours for observation because she was a little out of it from all of the blood pressure medicine that my wife was receiving due to preeclampsia. I briefly met Morgan, and then our baby was out of the NICU, and I didn't see her until a couple of days later, right before we were getting ready to be discharged. She came to do one more check on the baby to make sure she was good to go home. We were so excited to leave Mercy as a family of three. I felt there was excitement, and we were ready to bust out, but Morgan sensed something that none of the other nurses nor I was able to sense.

She looked at my wife and asked if she was ok. My wife started crying and said, "Not really, but I don't like to cry, and I know I am going to cry." My wife was struggling with breastfeeding because her milk hadn't come in yet. She also was not getting any sleep because she had to have her vitals checked every hour because of the pre-eclampsia meds. Morgan sat down on her bed with us, talked her through what was going on, and assured her that she was not doing anything wrong and that her emotions were completely normal. She assured her that she was a good mother and also explained the hormonal changes and how they could affect her emotions in the coming weeks.

Morgan was not my wife's nurse, but she provided the best support that she needed that day: reassurance that she was doing well and that she was going to be okay. At that moment, her mental health was Morgan's priority. We had all amazing nurses, and I wish that I could nominate all of them for the DAISY Award; however, Morgan really stood out because she was the only one who sensed something wasn't right. The other nurses would ask if they could get her anything, but Morgan asked if she was okay. She had a sense that something wasn't right. The other nurses knew she was ok because of readings from her vitals and such, but they didn't know what was going on mentally.

My wife is almost finished with her master's degree from Drake University in School Counseling and Mental Health. Mental Health is important to her and I could tell that Morgan also had a plethora of knowledge about it as well. She shared some of the signs to look for with postpartum depression and what to do if I noticed any of them. Morgan truly went above and beyond, and we are very grateful for her and the support that she gave us before we left the hospital that day!