Robert Weaver
September 2017
Robert
Weaver
,
RN
Neonatal Intensive Care Unit
Bronson Methodist Hospital
Kalamazoo
,
MI
United States
My daughter was in the Bronson NICU for three months. She was born at 23 weeks and 1 pound 5 ounces. The first two months were the hardest. She hovered around 2 pounds for several days, barely making any gains and having constant trouble with the CPAP machine. During that time she had a new nurse that started working with her at night, a quiet young man with short cut hair and square shaped glasses named Rob.
Being the silent type, Rob was difficult to learn about at first, but there was one thing that stood out, he had acute attention to detail and completely focused on his job in the room. My daughter was covered in tubes and wires during that time. The CPAP tubes would fill with condensation and Rob made sure to clean it out before hooking up the new mask. I didn't sleep much during that time. After my shift, I would stop by and check on her for her 1 am care time. If I was having a hard time I would come back at 3 or 4 am and read to her next to her isolette. The nights Rob was working I didn't come back. If her monitor beeped or an alarm rang, Rob was in the room a few seconds later checking on her. The series of checks and double checks Rob would go through had me leaving the NICU at night with a confidence I needed to get through the night. Any questions I asked were answered to the best of his ability or were looked up and answered at a later time. Being part of hallway 2 kept Rob as her nurse for several nights in a row adding to my confidence in her care with a nurse who was already very familiar with her history.
Over those few weeks, I came to know Rob as one of those rare people who takes pride in their career, keeping up with the latest procedures, practices, and where preemie care is heading. Maybe Rob wasn't handing out hugs like candy as much as the rest of the staff was but he did give my daughter the care she needed while the doctors were still trying to find the source of her infection. We didn't see much of Rob after she was given the correct antibiotic. He disappeared once she was moved to a window room and she wasn't in the step-down unit that long. She is home now, four weeks before her due date. A lot of that is my daughter's stubborn personality that comes out more every day, but I can say without a doubt that she wouldn't be here with us if it wasn't for the type of care she received from faithful nurses like Rob.
Being the silent type, Rob was difficult to learn about at first, but there was one thing that stood out, he had acute attention to detail and completely focused on his job in the room. My daughter was covered in tubes and wires during that time. The CPAP tubes would fill with condensation and Rob made sure to clean it out before hooking up the new mask. I didn't sleep much during that time. After my shift, I would stop by and check on her for her 1 am care time. If I was having a hard time I would come back at 3 or 4 am and read to her next to her isolette. The nights Rob was working I didn't come back. If her monitor beeped or an alarm rang, Rob was in the room a few seconds later checking on her. The series of checks and double checks Rob would go through had me leaving the NICU at night with a confidence I needed to get through the night. Any questions I asked were answered to the best of his ability or were looked up and answered at a later time. Being part of hallway 2 kept Rob as her nurse for several nights in a row adding to my confidence in her care with a nurse who was already very familiar with her history.
Over those few weeks, I came to know Rob as one of those rare people who takes pride in their career, keeping up with the latest procedures, practices, and where preemie care is heading. Maybe Rob wasn't handing out hugs like candy as much as the rest of the staff was but he did give my daughter the care she needed while the doctors were still trying to find the source of her infection. We didn't see much of Rob after she was given the correct antibiotic. He disappeared once she was moved to a window room and she wasn't in the step-down unit that long. She is home now, four weeks before her due date. A lot of that is my daughter's stubborn personality that comes out more every day, but I can say without a doubt that she wouldn't be here with us if it wasn't for the type of care she received from faithful nurses like Rob.