Upon contacting families for consent to have their child honored in our Tribute Garden as an organ, eye or tissue donor, I was informed by the mother of one of our donor families that she had a favor to ask. 'There was a nurse on staff that helped care for my son the night he died. She went above and beyond in a couple of ways for us and I'd like to thank her personally, but I've not been able to get her name. She was the nurse into the evening and I think went off duty around 7-8 PM. I want to thank her."
This request came 3 months after the death of her son. In the midst of her grief, to be able to recall a single face that supported her, attests to the compassion, thoroughness, empathy and professionalism of nursing during its most difficult time. I invited Natasha to attend the Butterfly Promise and the reunion was heartwarming for these two joined in their individual sense of loss and supported by their love of this child. Natasha shared with me that she had been involved in a number of deaths at that time on the unit. For her to continue to perform at this level, with such emotional demands even further demonstrates recognition of the values we seek to uphold at CHKD. It was a privilege to connect this nurse and grieving mother and to be a bystander in watching nursing at its finest.
When her PICU colleagues were asked to describe Natasha these are some of the adjectives and comments used: empathetic, compassionate, non-judgmental, meets families where they are, strong advocate for family-centered care, deserving, humble, utilizes multidisciplinary team for collaborative care, responsive to patients, families and her co-workers, welcoming, and a team player. She exemplifies a DAISY Award Extraordinary Nurse!