My daughter has spent more than half of her 5 months of life in this hospital. We have had ups and downs. We have met an astronomical number of people during our time here. I am a nurse who used to serve on the recognition council, so I understand the depth of this award, and believe me when I say, this nominee deserves this award. She is always helping her colleagues and truly stands out from the rest of her team.

On multiple occasions, she would be in my daughter's room helping, even when she wasn't her primary nurse. The nominee was not originally supposed to take my daughter post-operatively. Another nurse was supposed to care for her, but she got caught up with her other patient. The nominee had not received a report or anything but jumped right in because the OR team was wheeling my daughter into her room.

Without hesitation, this nurse jumped into action. After the initial chaos, it had been determined that she was going to formally be her primary nurse. This nurse is amazing, attentive, informative, and so knowledgeable. She never complained and just did what needed to be done for my daughter. This nurse ended up caring for my daughter for several days after her open heart surgery and then again for a few days a week later.

I always knew I could relax when this nominee was caring for my baby. She did so many things that go above and beyond the scope of nursing. For example, she created a way to hang my daughter's toys up by using a restraint to hang the toys across the top of her crib so that my daughter could reach and swat her toys. I have a picture of this if you would like to see it. The creativity, effort, and love that go into that let me know just how passionate this nominee is about her job.

Additionally, there were multiple occasions where things were not explained or demonstrated to me as well as I would have liked. This nominee always did a great job advocating for my daughter and me. On several occasions, she made sure someone from the team came to explain things to me because I was uncomfortable or felt short-changed. The nominee, herself, spent countless hours in our room explaining things and answering my questions. She always made sure I was comfortable and informed. She gave me a voice when I was too timid to be forthright with how I was feeling about my daughter's care and her outcome.

This nurse has been so attentive and patient with my baby. She always found other ways to entertain my daughter. This nurse was always willing to advocate and throw her own thoughts at the team. Most importantly, she made me feel comfortable and heard. Going from being a nurse to being a full-time mom to a medically fragile baby, I needed someone like this nurse on my team, and I'm so thankful for how often she was assigned to care for my daughter.