I have been working side-by-side with Shannon Peck every shift for the past seven-plus years. As a 39-year veteran of nursing, I have had the privilege of working with some extraordinary nurses in my career, and Shannon is definitely one of the strongest patient advocates that I have ever had the pleasure of working with. Shannon is an exceptional neonatal nurse, but where she really shines is with her teaching. Of all of the nurses who work in our department, Shannon is the most proactive with addressing discharge teaching in a timely manner. When discharge teaching is not addressed proactively, it is a real disservice to the family and creates a lot of unnecessary stress for both the family and the bedside nurse. The parents aren't able to process all the information that they are being given and they wind up feeling completely overwhelmed. Shannon conscientiously addresses this issue by teaching several topics with every parent contact. Even when we have patients with complex discharge teaching needs, Shannon anticipates this and responds appropriately.

One recent exemplary situation is one in which we had a family from the Congo who only spoke Lingala and needed extensive discharge teaching, including CPR, all of which had to be taught using an iPad with a translator that was only available by audio. Anticipating that the baby's discharge home was going to be within the next several days, she spent several hours on multiple days patiently teaching the family. It was a lengthy, time-consuming process to teach this family everything they needed to know to care for their baby, but Shannon did not shy away from the challenge. Consequently, this family went home feeling confident in their ability to care for their child. What a wonderful gift to provide for a family. Although this case was particularly memorable, it is only one example out of many. In conclusion, I sincerely hope that Shannon is recognized for the amazing job that she does every single day. It is an honor to continue to work alongside her.