As new parents, it is easy to become over-protective and worried about your child, especially when they come early and must spend their first few infant months in the NICU like our daughter. However, whenever our primary night shift nurse Rachel Ralph was on duty, we could always, in every sense of the phrase, sleep soundly.
Rachel was the first nurse we met in the Level 2 NICU, and she really set the bar high. She is an immaculate professional-very diligent in her care and incredibly knowledgeable on every term, piece of equipment, process involved in caring for neonates, and always able and willing to answer any question or solve any issue. It never felt like Rachel was just "going through the motions." Like an intricate game of chess, she always seemed to be thinking ahead to the next few steps in our daughter's care, planning ahead, and proactively trying to solve each issue.
One instance was when our daughter had a diaper rash that lasted a week or two. While some nurses were content to use the same combination of cream or powder that the person before them did, Rachel always analyzed the situation and adjusted what was applied until we seemed to find the winning combination.
When we would spend the night with our daughter, Rachel always gave us space to be alone with her, but never left us feeling alone or unsupported, regularly checking in and always standing closely by if any need arose.
Rachel seemed like the gold standard for nursing, and we are forever grateful that Rachel was there to help guide our daughter on her journey home.