It is hard to describe how much our lives have been upended by the sudden intensive care hospitalization and neuroblastoma diagnosis that we received for our daughter P on the day of her first birthday, but having Jessica as one of our primary nurses has been the rock that we have clung to in order to get us through our six week stay at Lurie.

From the first shift we had with Jessica, we knew she would be an integral part of P’s team but we didn’t anticipate how special she would become to us. The consistency of having her as our nurse immensely impacted P's outcome and allowed us to feel complete comfort with her care even when we were so worried about her respiratory status being that we knew she would be intubated for a prolonged period with a very unclear outcome. Along the way, we faced many setbacks, but Jessica maintained a consistent calm attitude that encouraged us to stay positive.

Eventually, when P started to get better and it was time to start weaning her sedation, Jessica was so patient with my husband when he became concerned with the drug weaning schedule and was peppering her with questions about the protocol. The two must have talked for at least an hour, and despite my frustration at his redundant questions, Jessica calmly re-explained the protocol multiple times to ease his concerns. This example is a true testament to Jessica as a person and as a nurse.

Not only does she provide exceptional bedside care but she encompasses and embraces all aspects of family-centered care in a warm and gentle manner giving our questions and needs as much time as necessary to feel the comfort that was greatly needed during such difficult days. Looking back it seems like such a trivial event, but Jessica was the first nurse who encouraged us to do simple tasks like change a diaper or give P a bath which not only made us feel like real parents again (a feeling so powerful that I cannot put it into words here) but it also gave us control as parents in a world where we were out of control. Jessica made us part of P’s daily routine, and even though I’m sure we slowed her down, she was always patient and excited to see us being parents for P. To have the knowledge and wisdom to be able to empower us as parents in our darkest days is something that we will never forget.

The most important aspect of Jessica’s excellence was her dedication to advocating for P, which overall affected her progressive improvement. Jessica spent countless mornings preparing us for rounds so we could follow along with the doctors’ quick pace. She also listened to all of our concerns and was prepared to be our voice to the doctor when we could not adequately verbalize our thoughts. Her care and compassion throughout P’s stay were crucial and P is where she is today because of her. We kept saying that we never wanted to be in the PICU but having Jessica as our support and getting to know her made us so sad to leave. Jessica will undoubtedly touch many lives in her career as a nurse but we hope she knows how much she has touched ours. We will never ever forget what she has done for P and for us.