Kendahl Bent
August 2023
Kendahl
Bent
,
BSN, RN
NICU
Children's Hospital Colorado
Colorado Springs
,
CO
United States
Kendahl never met me with anything other than a smile. She was so incredibly compassionate to me and my little family.
When my daughter was born 6 weeks premature, I knew she would have to spend time in the NICU. As a young first-time mom, I was terrified. Because I was unable to bring my baby, H, home with me, I dealt with extreme postpartum depression. I struggled to take care of myself, and getting up and ready to make the 30-minute drive to the hospital every day felt like an impossible task. I was worried that I would face judgement from hospital staff for not spending a lot of time at the NICU or for only coming at night. But Kendahl, the nurse who took care of my daughter on night shift most days, never met me with anything other than a smile. She was so incredibly compassionate to me and my little family. Whenever I walked into my daughter's hospital room and saw that Kendahl was assigned to it, I felt like I could breathe a sigh of relief, knowing that she was in the best hands. Kendahl was incredibly caring to my daughter, and she was also very compassionate towards me and my husband. There were several days when she called me right after starting her shift to give me an update on how my baby was doing, which greatly helped to calm my mind. Not only did Kendahl provide incredible care for my daughter, but she also helped give me confidence as a new mom when it came to doing things like changing diapers, burping her, or feeding her.
When I learned about the DAISY Award, I knew I needed to nominate Kendahl because she made such a huge difference, not only in my daughter’s care, but in all of our lives. For example, one of my biggest worries as a NICU parent was that my baby was laying there alone and sad all day, but one day, when I showed up to the hospital, Kendahl informed me that she had had a “cuddler” come into my daughter's room to hold her earlier in the day when she had been upset. This is only one small example, but my worries were immediately erased, and I knew that my daughter was in the best hands.
H only spent 17 days in the NICU, and she is almost one year old now, but I still think of Kendahl often and how much I appreciate all that she did for us.
When I learned about the DAISY Award, I knew I needed to nominate Kendahl because she made such a huge difference, not only in my daughter’s care, but in all of our lives. For example, one of my biggest worries as a NICU parent was that my baby was laying there alone and sad all day, but one day, when I showed up to the hospital, Kendahl informed me that she had had a “cuddler” come into my daughter's room to hold her earlier in the day when she had been upset. This is only one small example, but my worries were immediately erased, and I knew that my daughter was in the best hands.
H only spent 17 days in the NICU, and she is almost one year old now, but I still think of Kendahl often and how much I appreciate all that she did for us.