We have both had the opportunity to work in the UCLA Health System for the last seven years. We have learned from and worked alongside some extraordinary nurses during our tenure who have all helped to shape us and left indelible marks on our own nursing practices. It is with the spirit of those nurses that this letter is written about a truly extraordinary nurse who did nothing beyond being herself which was itself extraordinary.

It's difficult to articulate everything that Maxine did for us in one evening except to say that she saved us from a complete meltdown. Having a baby was such a wonderful experience but also terrifying, anxiety inducing and absolutely exhausting. We didn't realize how completely worn out we had become from staying up with the baby and managing visitors. The night that Maxine was assigned to us had been a particularly hard day with our daughter crying and us realizing we had no idea how to deal with breastfeeding. When she came into the room she introduced herself and wrote out a plan for the evening on the board. She also mentioned she was in charge that night as well...being nurses we understood what this meant for the night.

She was so sweet and took the time out of her busy schedule to really connect with us. All it took was for her to look us in the eyes and we both were in tears...they were the kind of tears only true exhaustion can bring and were completely uncontrollable. Maxine's phone was ringing at the time and she very calmly took her phone out and silenced it then got down on our level and told us it was going to be okay and that we were going to figure things out. She stopped and really listened to our issues. In a way that gave us freedom to express them.

We were scared and we didn't know how to feed our daughter and that felt awful. Maxine stayed in that room with us and worked on breastfeeding for about 40 minutes. I know she was probably so stressed about time but she never showed it. I know she had a million other things to attend to but I never felt that. After we felt more comfortable with feeding she made a new plan for us... she helped us get our baby ready to sleep and put us all to bed. We needed someone to tell us how to go to sleep and she realized that. She completely took charge of the situation and gently guided us into getting some rest.

She also knew we were concerned about the hearing test and pulse oximetry test and so she made it a priority to complete these despite her own busy night. Maxine not only met our needs but found a way to instill in us a sense of confidence we were severely lacking. Her knowledge base was strong and her delivery was gentle and supportive.

She made our baby an adorable hat that night that has become one of my favorites...I put her in it often after we first came home from the hospital and it helped me remember her loving support that night. It was something we relied on heavily as we first transitioned home with our new baby...she believed we could do it so we believed it as well.

It is funny how something like that stays with you. By the next morning everything had changed all because this one person gave so much of her own self to us and helped us understand that we were capable of being moms. Our entire experience on the post-partum unit was wonderful and all of the nurses were fantastic but Maxine was truly at the center of making the experience something life changing. Thank you.