November 2010
Emily
Luke
,
RN
NICU
Providence Alaska Medical Center
Anchorage
,
AK
United States
We cared for an unfortunate infant who had renal agenesis, and therefore no chance for survival- without lung or kidney function. (this family wanted every chance for their daughter and in close partnership with the health care team, some support was provided and she lived for about 12 hours.) Emily supported this family from about 5 hours after the birth until she passed away. She took pictures throughout the process and thus allowed the family to concentrate on their short but precious interaction with their beloved daughter. Frustrated that the unit computer/printer was not working, Emily took the camera home. Unable to get the pictures transformed there, she -at her expense - had them transferred to a disk at Walmart; then hand-delivered these preserved memories to the parents at their home on her day off.