Tina Mitchell is a nurse in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at CDH who gives family-centered, compassionate, and high-quality nursing care on a consistent basis. Not only is she thorough and detail oriented, but she aims to form trusting and long-lasting relationships with the patients and families she cares for on a daily basis.
Tina serves as a primary nurse for M, a patient of the NICU for 4+months. Due to visitor restrictions for the flu season, M's sister, 2 1/2-year-old, V, was not able to visit her sister until around 2 months of age. When those restrictions were lifted, Tina's care not only facilitated bonding experiences for M's mother and father but also her sister. By spending time with V during her visits to the NICU, the parents trust that V is in good hands with Tina; in turn, they can give more focused love and attention to M without having to keep V busy with activities while in the hospital.
The book wagon, coloring, and gift toys provided by the NICU and Child Life Development services are fantastic resources the hospital offers for siblings of patients, but these resources aren't always available or are redundant for the busy, curious, and on the go 2 1/2-year-old. As a result, Tina has been extremely creative and most definitely has gone above and beyond in several instances for this family. Tina has made V an "honorary staff member" by showing her the ropes of how to be a nurse in the NICU. Tina made V her very own laminated ID badge, complete with NM badge reel, and photo ID. You can find V following Tina around the unit dressed in her very own green scrubs donned with PPE- hair bonnet, gloves, mask, and all! From tours of the unit to pretend charting on the computer sitting in on shift huddles, V is Tina's shadow, and she always counts how many "sleeps" it will be until she sees her again. Knowing this, when Tina has an upcoming vacation, she prepared for her absence. Tina brought in 14 goodie bags; one for each day she would be away for V to open! The bags were labeled with the date and how many "sleeps" it would be until Tina would be back. The goodie bags were filled with activities, treats, and notes for V each day. For example, when it was 10 more "sleeps" until Tina returned, the bag contained a deck of alphabet cards with a note from Tina asking V to be a good girl and practice her letters.
This is just one instance of Tina being an outstanding nurse for her patient and families. Tina embodies the idea of family and patient-centered care; she thinks up ideas no other nurse would, and runs with it. She gives 110% with her patients and families, and her peers most certainly look up to her in this regard. Tina is a selfless nurse and is definitely extraordinary!