Vickie Gardner
April 2021
Vickie
Gardner
,
RN
NICU
East Tennessee Children's Hospital
Knoxville
,
TN
United States
There are some things that reveal an expert in any field, like decisiveness, organization, efficiency, and especially making hard work look effortless. Vickie had those in spades.
I went to breakfast and came back to find Vickie had moved my son’s bilirubin light from the side of the giraffe to the end. I’d spent most of the previous day wondering why they’d put it on the side, because it was in the way and didn’t seem to be getting him the best coverage, but I fell asleep before I could ask about it and slept until Vickie came on shift. So when I came back to see it moved, I was like, okay, cool. Then I saw her care for A. With me being in the room wasn’t even on her mind. She was 100% focused on caring for A and doing what was needed. Watching her work was a pleasure.
There are some things that reveal an expert in any field, like decisiveness, organization, efficiency, and especially making hard work look effortless. Vickie had those in spades. Then an alarm went off for A’s respiratory rate. No big deal, it had happened the night before and the nurse said it was fine. But not only did Vickie check on him, she did something beyond what the other nurse had done, she adjusted the monitor so it would get a better read. Every time she does something with A, I can see not only her skill and experience, but her care for him. And I can tell he likes her too. Less than two hours into her shift, we agreed we wanted her to be a primary for A, and now less than halfway through her shift I’m writing this nomination because of how apparent her excellence is. A is so blessed to be cared for by Vickie.
There are some things that reveal an expert in any field, like decisiveness, organization, efficiency, and especially making hard work look effortless. Vickie had those in spades. Then an alarm went off for A’s respiratory rate. No big deal, it had happened the night before and the nurse said it was fine. But not only did Vickie check on him, she did something beyond what the other nurse had done, she adjusted the monitor so it would get a better read. Every time she does something with A, I can see not only her skill and experience, but her care for him. And I can tell he likes her too. Less than two hours into her shift, we agreed we wanted her to be a primary for A, and now less than halfway through her shift I’m writing this nomination because of how apparent her excellence is. A is so blessed to be cared for by Vickie.