Zella Turlington
February 2020
Zella
Turlington
,
RN
NICU
Riverside Regional Medical Center
Newport News
,
VA
United States
When my water broke at 25 weeks and three weeks later (12 weeks early) our baby boy was born pretty traumatically, my husband and I had endless questions and a world of unknown. We were so scared for that L's future looked like as well as our own. On the evening he arrived, Zella was his nurse and actually remained his nurse for quite a while in his first few weeks. She was absolutely amazing. Words really can't describe the caring and compassion she has for her job and had for caring for our little (2 pounds 1 ounce little) boy.
I was a mess for quite a while and she always took the time to answer my questions and even hung out with me while I was visiting. She nicknamed L ~ L Skywalker and became so familiar with his likes and dislikes. For example, he'd become tachycardic and his oxygen may dip, I would freak out, but Zella would just tell me he is fine, reposition him and turn down the temperature in his room or isolette and he'd be perfect. I'd be obviously emotional or sad, and she'd ask if I wanted to hold him and then stick very close to by.
The finesse she exhibited in caring for these little guys was nothing short of angelic. I knew as L got bigger and stronger, and closer to coming home I'd soon face my next challenge and that was leaving the amazing NICU support team, especially our Zella. I realized I too had become dependent on the love and compassion she displayed. She'd seen a lot of my firsts with my baby boy, and although I knew there'd be many more, those first 68 days of L's life were made especially special and easier because of having her to care for our baby.
As Riverside nurse myself, I know that Zella deserves all the DAISYs this world has to offer! She will always be an extremely special person to my husband and I, and even when we talk about our NICU stay, as dark and unsure as what some days were, there's this light that also surrounds those memories as well, mainly because the nurses were so absolutely amazing. So Miss Zella, if you are reading this, please know how much we absolutely love you and could not have done this without out.
I was a mess for quite a while and she always took the time to answer my questions and even hung out with me while I was visiting. She nicknamed L ~ L Skywalker and became so familiar with his likes and dislikes. For example, he'd become tachycardic and his oxygen may dip, I would freak out, but Zella would just tell me he is fine, reposition him and turn down the temperature in his room or isolette and he'd be perfect. I'd be obviously emotional or sad, and she'd ask if I wanted to hold him and then stick very close to by.
The finesse she exhibited in caring for these little guys was nothing short of angelic. I knew as L got bigger and stronger, and closer to coming home I'd soon face my next challenge and that was leaving the amazing NICU support team, especially our Zella. I realized I too had become dependent on the love and compassion she displayed. She'd seen a lot of my firsts with my baby boy, and although I knew there'd be many more, those first 68 days of L's life were made especially special and easier because of having her to care for our baby.
As Riverside nurse myself, I know that Zella deserves all the DAISYs this world has to offer! She will always be an extremely special person to my husband and I, and even when we talk about our NICU stay, as dark and unsure as what some days were, there's this light that also surrounds those memories as well, mainly because the nurses were so absolutely amazing. So Miss Zella, if you are reading this, please know how much we absolutely love you and could not have done this without out.