Samantha Skeen
September 2020
Samantha
Skeen
,
RN
NICU
Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center
Winston Salem
,
NC
United States
I often walked in on Samantha giving my son pep talks, extra cuddles, and all-around loving him.
I want to thank a very special nurse. A nurse that always went above and beyond. I could never thank her enough for everything she did and does. Her name is Samantha Skeen. My son B was born at Wake Forest Baptist and resided there for 252 days. The longest and toughest days of our lives. She became his nurse early on. She loved B. Soon she became his primary nurse and would often line up the best nurses for him on her days off. She spoiled B like he was her own. She was a rock for us.
B had many ups and downs. Samantha was there for us every step of the way. She answered so many questions for us without ever seeming to be annoyed or frustrated with us. I had days where I just cried. She comforted me. She helped me to voice my opinion to the doctors. She would even make arrangements if it was her day off to be B's nurse on days he had surgery. Samantha also being known as the chaos coordinator around the NICU is extraordinary. Somehow she managed to be charge nurse and still found time to be his primary nurse.
B gave all of a run for our money. I often walked in on her giving my son pep talks, extra cuddles, and all-around loving him. He was intubated several times and ultimately had a tracheostomy done. B had coded 3 times while in the hospital and this woman was my rock. She deserves so much. I am tearing up as I write this because my family was held together and supported by Samantha. She showed my husband and I how to care for all of B’s needs. How to be confident in doing so. How to make our voices heard in regards to our son. The day we finally were going to be discharged she was there. This day we had prayed for. We were taking our son home. On this day it was a hard day for everyone. Samantha had grown to love B and was in tears to see him go. Happy tears. Just goes to show how much she cared. She was a rock in our hardest days. We keep in touch to this day. Wake Forest Baptist is lucky to have such an amazing, knowledgeable, hardworking NICU nurse. The babies are in good hands with her.
B had many ups and downs. Samantha was there for us every step of the way. She answered so many questions for us without ever seeming to be annoyed or frustrated with us. I had days where I just cried. She comforted me. She helped me to voice my opinion to the doctors. She would even make arrangements if it was her day off to be B's nurse on days he had surgery. Samantha also being known as the chaos coordinator around the NICU is extraordinary. Somehow she managed to be charge nurse and still found time to be his primary nurse.
B gave all of a run for our money. I often walked in on her giving my son pep talks, extra cuddles, and all-around loving him. He was intubated several times and ultimately had a tracheostomy done. B had coded 3 times while in the hospital and this woman was my rock. She deserves so much. I am tearing up as I write this because my family was held together and supported by Samantha. She showed my husband and I how to care for all of B’s needs. How to be confident in doing so. How to make our voices heard in regards to our son. The day we finally were going to be discharged she was there. This day we had prayed for. We were taking our son home. On this day it was a hard day for everyone. Samantha had grown to love B and was in tears to see him go. Happy tears. Just goes to show how much she cared. She was a rock in our hardest days. We keep in touch to this day. Wake Forest Baptist is lucky to have such an amazing, knowledgeable, hardworking NICU nurse. The babies are in good hands with her.