We were recently in the hospital for the birth of our first child. My husband and I are both experienced ICU nurses and this was our first time being patients in a hospital setting, which was an interesting adjustment. Many nurses and staff members found out about our careers and seemingly assumed we were educated and comfortable in caring for our newborn, but the truth is that we had no clue what to expect and what we were doing. It seemed that many nurses skipped out on providing us with tips and education on how to care for our baby because of this assumption.

Our second night in the hospital was a struggle getting sleep and trying to get baby to breastfeed. By the time Sierra came on for the start of her shift, my husband was sitting in bed with me and holding me while I was in tears of frustration and disappointment feeling like I was doing everything wrong. She respected our space but also provided so much reassurance and a calm energy letting us know that we were not alone and that we were in fact doing everything we needed to do for our baby. She gave us much-needed information about our newborn and breastfeeding that we were missing from previous shifts.

Throughout the day, Sierra went above and beyond to continue to provide us with education and ensure that we were becoming more comfortable in caring for our baby girl. It was refreshing that she was willing to take the time to provide us with quality patient education, good conversation, and a space to ask questions before our discharge home.

After just a few hours we went from being skeptical, exhausted, and emotional new parents to feeling so much more confident in ourselves and feeling ready to safely take baby home. Overall, Sierra was truly the one person who made the biggest impact during our hospital stay and truly changed our first birth experience from scary and frustrating to a positive experience we will look back on. Thank you, Sierra, for your compassion, your time, and your obvious dedication to the nursing profession.