When you decide to be a nurse you know not every moment is going to be joyous and happy. You know that it is often to help those in sickness and in health. You know that you will help someone heal or that you may help someone during their last days reach a peaceful end.
As a labor and delivery nurse, most of the moments are happy as we help families grow; although some days there are unexpected events that take only the strongest and toughest RNs to help with. A worried mother walks through the door, hand-in-hand with her loved one, the worry decreased fetal movement. The nurse takes the patient in, and in those dreaded moments you search and pray to find a heart rate, and in the end, there is not one. As that nurse, you will forever be associated with that patient and their loss.
One nurse here on labor and delivery at Morristown makes it her mission to help the mother and families to remember this sweet unborn angel. Her name is Julianne Kreutzer. She has often stepped up to the plate to take care of these mourning families and if she is not the primary nurse, she is often there to provide a helping hand to the nurses that are taking care of these tough moments. These tough moments can be emotional and tough mentally, but Julianne takes it on. She assists a mourning family in making informed decisions, walks them through the hundreds of forms, and holds their hand as they learn to cope with their loss.
Julianne treats these families like her own. She mourns with the families and she assists them with their grieving and healing processes. She cares for these families and gives them all her attention. As a family, it is hard to ever picture yourself in this kind of situation, but Julianne helps them get through those heartbreaking hours. She takes her time knowing that these memories will forever shape these families' lives and what happens in the future with their family. Then after delivery, she takes her time to create a special memorial box for the family to look back on and remember their angel baby.
As she has said herself, it does not matter if the family never looks at the memorial box; at least it is there in remembrance of their baby in heaven before he or she ever lived. Each box contains memories of that angel baby and each box is made special for that specific family. Julianne wants the families to know that when they look at those boxes there was someone during this sad and unbelievable moment that took their time to commemorate their angel in such a caring and beautiful way. There was someone during those moments that mourned with them and helped them to get through. This one goes out to Julianne for taking her time with these families, for putting forth the effort to remember all those little angels that were lost before they had their time to live. For helping these families remember their loss and finding solace in such a difficult time.
You are appreciated more than you know and admired by those that surround you. Thank you for all you do!