Sylvia was our relief charge nurse, when the parent of a new baby boy approached the nurses’ station to express a concern. His new infant was twitching. Sylvia immediately went to the room to assess the situation and asked the parents to record the next episode, since at that time, she was unable to witness anything out of the ordinary. Later, when she viewed a video recording of an event, she realized the baby was indeed experiencing a seizure that was not related to immature muscle tone.

Subsequently, she contacted the infant’s primary pediatrician who told her that he would be in to assess the baby in 2 hours. That was not acceptable to Sylvia. She proceeded to call the NICU, seeking further advice and requesting a nurse come to the Maternity Unit as soon as possible to evaluate this infant. When that call came in, the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) was busy admitting a set of premature twins. That did not stop Sylvia, she continued with her request for the NICU charge nurse to come to Postpartum to assess this infant and made sure that the NICU charge nurse understood the criticality of the situation.

Sylvia assumed the role of an advocate for this small infant. She did not stop until the infant was transferred to the NICU. A few days later, this baby was transferred to Children’s Hospital of Los Angles (CHLA) for a higher level of care, and it was determined that the baby had brain clots that were causing the seizures. Sylvia's timely and persistent actions led to early life-saving interventions for this baby.