Mara Cunningham
August 2025
Mara
Cunningham
,
RN
C7
Albany Medical Center
Albany
,
NY
United States
If you ever want to meet someone who just absolutely radiates love and light, walk upstairs to C7 and meet Mara.
We got admitted to the peds floor around 11 pm after already being in the hospital for 14 hours at that point. Mara greeted us as soon as we got upstairs, and speaking with her was such a breath of fresh air. I was stressed about my daughter’s situation, and right away it was so clear that Mara was there to listen to me and advocate for my daughter. I felt instantly at ease knowing she was going to take care of my daughter.
We stayed over for two nights, and I was beyond happy and relieved to see Mara when she walked into our room on that second night. She was so patient and so kind. The nature of our visit left my daughter needing to have multiple diaper changes and led to many outfit changes as well, which required being unhooked from her IV and NG tube.
At one point, we had a soiled outfit twice within a few minutes, and Mara had just sat back down at her computer after already helping us unhook everything and I went to find her to tell her we needed her again, and she came right away. She easily could have been annoyed or acted inconvenienced or had us wait until she finished what she started, but instead, she met us with a smile and was happy to help. Every single time we needed her, she was right there and never made us wait, which meant that my daughter never had to sit in soiled clothes for more than a few minutes.
Mara not only cared for my daughter but also for my husband and me by providing us with toothbrushes and toothpaste because she knew we hadn’t been able to go home to get any essentials. She was considerate of all of us because she knew my daughter, husband and I, hadn’t slept so she did her best to get as much done in the room all at once while my daughter was awake in the middle of the night, like drawing labs, checking on her, etc., and she also did this because she knew how traumatic each lab draw and check in was for my daughter. There are nurses who are good nurses and do their job well, but then there are nurses like Mara who not only do their job well but truly enjoy what she does. If you ever want to meet someone who just absolutely radiates love and light, walk upstairs to C7 and meet Mara.
We stayed over for two nights, and I was beyond happy and relieved to see Mara when she walked into our room on that second night. She was so patient and so kind. The nature of our visit left my daughter needing to have multiple diaper changes and led to many outfit changes as well, which required being unhooked from her IV and NG tube.
At one point, we had a soiled outfit twice within a few minutes, and Mara had just sat back down at her computer after already helping us unhook everything and I went to find her to tell her we needed her again, and she came right away. She easily could have been annoyed or acted inconvenienced or had us wait until she finished what she started, but instead, she met us with a smile and was happy to help. Every single time we needed her, she was right there and never made us wait, which meant that my daughter never had to sit in soiled clothes for more than a few minutes.
Mara not only cared for my daughter but also for my husband and me by providing us with toothbrushes and toothpaste because she knew we hadn’t been able to go home to get any essentials. She was considerate of all of us because she knew my daughter, husband and I, hadn’t slept so she did her best to get as much done in the room all at once while my daughter was awake in the middle of the night, like drawing labs, checking on her, etc., and she also did this because she knew how traumatic each lab draw and check in was for my daughter. There are nurses who are good nurses and do their job well, but then there are nurses like Mara who not only do their job well but truly enjoy what she does. If you ever want to meet someone who just absolutely radiates love and light, walk upstairs to C7 and meet Mara.