Taylor Martin
August 2022
Taylor
Martin
,
RN
NICU
IU Health Arnett Hospital
Frankfort
,
IN
Simultaneously dealing with grieving a child, having a child in the NICU, and having a 1-year-old at home were the hardest periods of my life and I couldn’t have done it without Taylor.
Taylor was one of the nurses on call in the NICU when my twin boys were admitted after being born at home 3.5 months premature and weighing only 1.5 pounds. She helped stabilize one of my sons and was there when the other took his last breath 2 hours later. My son spent the next 115 days in the NICU. Simultaneously dealing with grieving a child, having a child in the NICU, and having a 1-year-old at home were the hardest periods of my life and I couldn’t have done it without Taylor. Knowing I was going through a lot, she went above and beyond her duties as a nurse.
Just some of the many things she did were… She regularly made different photo props to take cute pictures of my son and used the pictures to create scrapbook pages in her free time so we had something to look back on. Around the holidays, she spent her own money to buy him a stocking for his room to make his room more festive. She created a “countdown to due date” in his room and made sure to celebrate every day and every milestone. On his 100th day of life, she planned him a “100 day birthday” party. She bought cupcakes, a gift for him, decorated his entire room with decorations she made, and even created a custom outfit for him to wear (that even had his angel brother's initials on it). She advocated for his health. She set up appointments with feeding specialists to advance his progress with bottle feeding. She pushed to remove his oxygen when she knew he was ready. She made sure that every nurse that took care of him was on the same page so he had consistent care. And most importantly she cared and loved on him when we couldn’t be there. There were days and weeks we couldn’t visit due to illness. Whenever we weren’t there, Taylor held him, took him on walks in the hallway, and rocked him during her breaks. She was a listening ear. No matter how busy she was, she was friendly and found time to talk to us while we were visiting even if he wasn’t one of her babies that shift.
She is an excellent nurse and is thorough in her care. She is part of the reason he got to come home when he did, and even come home at all. But most importantly, she made happy memories during a time there otherwise would not/should not have been any.
Just some of the many things she did were… She regularly made different photo props to take cute pictures of my son and used the pictures to create scrapbook pages in her free time so we had something to look back on. Around the holidays, she spent her own money to buy him a stocking for his room to make his room more festive. She created a “countdown to due date” in his room and made sure to celebrate every day and every milestone. On his 100th day of life, she planned him a “100 day birthday” party. She bought cupcakes, a gift for him, decorated his entire room with decorations she made, and even created a custom outfit for him to wear (that even had his angel brother's initials on it). She advocated for his health. She set up appointments with feeding specialists to advance his progress with bottle feeding. She pushed to remove his oxygen when she knew he was ready. She made sure that every nurse that took care of him was on the same page so he had consistent care. And most importantly she cared and loved on him when we couldn’t be there. There were days and weeks we couldn’t visit due to illness. Whenever we weren’t there, Taylor held him, took him on walks in the hallway, and rocked him during her breaks. She was a listening ear. No matter how busy she was, she was friendly and found time to talk to us while we were visiting even if he wasn’t one of her babies that shift.
She is an excellent nurse and is thorough in her care. She is part of the reason he got to come home when he did, and even come home at all. But most importantly, she made happy memories during a time there otherwise would not/should not have been any.