I was a patient at Yale New Haven Hospital. I was under the care of Pauline on the postpartum unit following the delivery of my child.
I am a first time mom. My labor was long and hard. Over the course of my 4 day stay, I was under the care of 6 nurses and 8 PCAs. As this was the birth of my first child, my memories are heavily biased towards my personal experience, and the first few days with my daughter. There is, however, one exception, about whom I write to you today.
As I mentioned, my labor was hard. In total, 26 hours. At the peak of the excitement, there were complications, that led to some scary conversations with a nurse whom I will remember forever, because it scared the baby out of me (literally). You might think, why is this good memory? It is not. I include this as an anecdote of comparison in my experience with my nominee.
After this difficulty, holding my daughter in my arms for the first time was like being born myself. For a few blissful moments, everything was ok, my daughter was crying, BREATHING, and nothing could bring me down from cloud 9. We were moved to postpartum, settled in, ate (I hadn't eaten in 26 hours!), and got ready for our first night as a family of 3.
With this first night came the routine of my new life, dominated by a hungry infant needing nourishment that only I could provide. Breastfeeding is hard! I can't believe I didn't know this (maybe I'm glad I didn't), but aside from labor, it might be the most difficult thing I have ever done. I had some help the first 2 times from my nurse and PCAs, but around 7:30 pm a woman named Pauline walked into our room and became the breeze behind my recovery.
Pauline was my nighttime RN and quickly became a trusted ally. When it was time to try to latch, Pauline was by my side, not just placing and pushing as I had experienced so far, but teaching and encouraging. She made me laugh, she made my husband feel involved, she made me feel like I was born for motherhood and no matter when I mastered it or how I was doing everything exactly right and the time I was meant to do it.
One of the skills I never knew I needed was how to swaddle. Pauline had to take my daughter away for an x-ray, and when she returned, she was swaddled like I'd never seen! I was amazed by the soothing effect. Of course, I asked her to teach me! She laughed and said she couldn't take credit; that there was a PCA who was the swaddle whisperer (and sadly, not my PCA). Low and behold, an hour later the Swaddler herself (the PCA I will never forget) entered the room, sent by Pauline, to teach me how to swaddle. I know how busy night nurses are, I have 2 in my family, and this woman went and recruited extra help from someone not assigned to me to teach me a skill she must have known I needed.
I would be lying if I said when we left I was ready (is anyone?). I wasn't feeding my kid well, my boobs hurt, and I had to supplement with formula. However, despite all this, what I left with was confidence, hope, and a fairly desperate desire to take Pauline home with me. I had to bite my cheek not to cry when she hugged me goodbye on my morning of checkout when her shift was over.
I've been told The DAISY Award is given to a nurse who puts patient care first. Someone who is kind, knowledgeable, and generally exceptional at their job. Pauline is all of these things and more, and I will never forget what she did for me and my child in her first days of life and in my first days of being a mom. As a patient on the receiving end of her care, I can say wholeheartedly that she is a DAISY Nurse.