I delivered my third child in December at Mission Hospital. My pregnancy had been complicated and I delivered my son a few weeks early, but he and I seemed fine and were transferred to the Mother/Baby unit. I was greeted that Friday morning by my nurse, Viche' Harrington. On first impression there was nothing remarkable about Viche', and having been hospitalized in the Fetal/Maternal Unit twice in my pregnancy with such great care there, I didn't think the nurses could be any better. I was wrong. Viche' was extremely professional and very down-to-earth. She was extremely experienced and thorough and within a short period of time, I knew I could count on her.

She was so attentive, patient and in tune with the baby's needs and my own. These skills were proven to be very important over the next two days. Fortunately for me, Viche' would be my nurse through the weekend ... a weekend that took my OB staff off call and put me in the hands of Laurel OB practice - a practice that I was not familiar with nor they with me. On Saturday, my son's nasal passages became stuffy and he had trouble breathing and nursing. Viche' aspirated his nose and got some relief, but after she went off duty we had a rough night monitoring him and figuring out what was going on. When Viche' came back on duty Sunday morning, I informed her of our night and she went into superior nursing-mode. She took my son, Adam, and carefully checked him and listened to him. She wasn't satisfied with leaving him as is, and called in the pediatrician who came and assessed him as well. He had blocked nasal passages and was going into distress. He immediately went to the NICU floor. I was very upset.

My older two children had been turned away the day before due to flu restrictions and my new baby was in NICU. I had dealt with gestational hypertension in pregnancy and post delivery with these stressors it was becoming worse instead of better. Viche' took control of my situation as well and gave me fantastic care. Once my son was assessed in NICU and his nasal passages cleared and was being monitored, Viche' helped me rest quietly so I could handle the evening and night.

Although my stay and my son's stay was prolonged until Christmas Day, I thank God that he sent us Viche' and that her experience, training and care got my son and me the help we needed. I wish I could have had her the entire stay at Mission. She was wonderful. At the time my only thank you was sharing a sweet treat of a orange twist doughnut with her, but now that things have settled over the last month, I wanted to nominate her for a DAISY Award and to just say how thankful and grateful we are for her care because she more than deserves it. I also want to thank all the nurses, RNs and CNAs, I had during my stay. They were all wonderful and caring as well. Having delivered my first children at two different hospitals... nothing compares to the level of care at Mission. It by far exceeded my expectations!