Stephanie Bemis has taken care of my baby in the NICU over the last 3 1/2 months and I believe there is no limit to what she deserves in her profession. She was never shy when it came to doing the right thing for my baby. There were times when she was stern with us because she knew what he did and did not like or need. She would come and check on him when he wasn’t her patient that day, and to me, that takes a special kind of person. She would contact us and other nurses when she wasn’t at work to check on him. Whenever she would do something for my baby, she would not only explain what she was doing, but she would explain the benefits of what was happening and how my wife and I could do it. Stephanie would come to feed him when she wasn’t his primary nurse just because she had some downtime and missed him.

In my opinion, she is the cream of the crop and I hope she is strongly considered for this award. Some examples of what made her so amazing are listed below:

• The first time our son took his whole bottle, I arrived in his room, and she was waiting with her eyes lit up. She said, “I’ve been so excited to tell you that he took his whole bottle!” The excitement she had at that moment meant the world to me.

• A specialist came in to check on him and when my baby’s stats started to fluctuate, she exclaimed “STOP” To the specialist. The specialist stopped. Once he leveled off, she let her continue. That kind of stuff means a lot to my wife and me.

• Her role as his primary nurse had changed because she was needed as a “super user” with the new computer system. When she had a moment to spare, she would come into his room and check on him, and when the times lined up, she would ask his nurse if she could feed him.