February 2015
Erin
Janssen
,
BSN, RN
Labor & Delivery
Parkland Health & Hospital System
Dallas
,
TX
United States
Erin has been a dedicated nurse in Labor and Delivery for the last 8 years. Erin is an outstanding nurse and coworker and truly loves her job. She exemplifies Parkland's CIRCLES attributes in many ways, but I want to tell you a story about something Erin did that truly shows that she goes above and beyond.
Erin was working on our low risk L&D unit one day, which can sometimes be a welcome break from our extremely busy high risk unit. She was having a nice, happy typical L&D day when she overheard that a woman had delivered a 20 week baby on the high risk side. She heard that the baby was born alive and that the mother was intubated and taken to the ICU. She also heard that the mother's family declined to hold the baby as he was dying. In L&D we have an unwritten rule that no baby will ever die alone, no matter how small. These tiny patients, although previable, are patients nonetheless. The nurse that was currently holding the baby was about to leave for the day and they were having difficulty finding someone to take over. Without being asked, Erin volunteered to go over to the high risk unit to hold the baby boy as he died.
She not only held the baby but she swaddled him, rocked him, played soft music, sang to him and prayed over him as he gasped intermittently. She called him by name and told him how much his mommy loves him. She validated this tiny baby's life, gave him personhood and cared for him as if he was her own. She showed her kind and compassionate heart in what she did that day, but this is the kind of thing Erin does regularly.
She is a huge advocate for patients who have had a pregnancy loss. She has been a valuable member of the L&D Bereavement Committee for over 5 years. She spends her own time, effort and money in creating precious keepsakes for families to put in their memory boxes. They are called memory charms and she has put together over 400. She also has written dozens of thank you cards to the many volunteers who generously donate blankets and clothes for the small babies who pass away. In doing this, it encourages those volunteers to continue their efforts so that our patients will have something beautiful to dress their baby in. Erin is an extremely talented nurse, but her kind and compassionate heart is what makes her one of kind, a DAISY Nurse.
Erin was working on our low risk L&D unit one day, which can sometimes be a welcome break from our extremely busy high risk unit. She was having a nice, happy typical L&D day when she overheard that a woman had delivered a 20 week baby on the high risk side. She heard that the baby was born alive and that the mother was intubated and taken to the ICU. She also heard that the mother's family declined to hold the baby as he was dying. In L&D we have an unwritten rule that no baby will ever die alone, no matter how small. These tiny patients, although previable, are patients nonetheless. The nurse that was currently holding the baby was about to leave for the day and they were having difficulty finding someone to take over. Without being asked, Erin volunteered to go over to the high risk unit to hold the baby boy as he died.
She not only held the baby but she swaddled him, rocked him, played soft music, sang to him and prayed over him as he gasped intermittently. She called him by name and told him how much his mommy loves him. She validated this tiny baby's life, gave him personhood and cared for him as if he was her own. She showed her kind and compassionate heart in what she did that day, but this is the kind of thing Erin does regularly.
She is a huge advocate for patients who have had a pregnancy loss. She has been a valuable member of the L&D Bereavement Committee for over 5 years. She spends her own time, effort and money in creating precious keepsakes for families to put in their memory boxes. They are called memory charms and she has put together over 400. She also has written dozens of thank you cards to the many volunteers who generously donate blankets and clothes for the small babies who pass away. In doing this, it encourages those volunteers to continue their efforts so that our patients will have something beautiful to dress their baby in. Erin is an extremely talented nurse, but her kind and compassionate heart is what makes her one of kind, a DAISY Nurse.