My wife and I were having our 7th child and had planned our 4th home birth when plans had to change due to risk to our baby. My wife had a lot of anxiety due to poor experiences at hospitals before and not wanting to be forced to do things she did not want to. Nurse Tina Compton was the first nurse we had and our first impression of the ward. She was training a nursing student as well. Nurse Tina was so compassionate and listened to our concerns and answered every question with empathy and compassion. We wanted to leave the hospital as soon as possible after the birth and had arranged with our pediatrician to see our baby within 24 hours. Nurse Tina went above and beyond by organizing with the pediatrician and our midwife to facilitate this happening.

I was so impressed with her knowledge and how she didn’t just shut us down, which would have been much easier for her and the staff. She really listened to us and set such a great example for a future nurse. Her demeanor and empathy set the standard for our visit and made the high anxiety visit an amazing one. She never passed judgment on our decisions and advocated for us and our new baby boy! I was surprised to hear that she has been working at that hospital for 36 years and hope that Evanston hospital and North Shore recognizes her amazing contributions and dedication to the hospital and most importantly her commitment to her patients.

Some specific examples were the conversations we had with her and making connections. I am active duty Navy and she shared that her husband used to be in the Navy. When we asked for some very specific actions to be taken without the newborn she explained the reasons why that would not be possible, but that if those situations didn’t happen they would be more than happy to accommodate us. Her straightforwardness and eagerness to have a conversation with us was so amazing and helpful.