My experiences at the Saint Franics NICU

My last day at Saint Francis Hospital was bittersweet. Leaving my friends and the Neonatal Intensive Care Center was not easy.  This is where I started my nursing career, where I learnt what it meant to be a nurse, where I laughed in the good times and where I cried during the sad.  

I remember my first day in the NICU, my first patient was a 23 weeker.  Meaning the baby was born at 23 weeks gestation.  I watched this baby grow and go home with his family.  In the past two years, I have taken care of lots of  babies, I have met many parents and have fallen in love with many babies.  There are always those special babies, those that make you smile when you see them and their parents.  Those babies that you just want to hold and cuddle with all night long.  Sometimes these are the babies that start out as “touch me nots”, babies that cannot even handle a touch without having
desaturations and / or bradycardias.  Watching these babies grow and mature and knowing that God has touched them is something that is beyond words.   

The first time that a baby passed while I was in the NICU was in the old unit.  It was the middle of the night and the family was at the bedside.  The unit became quiet, all the nurses knew what was happening and we watched as the baby was coded.  I realized that the entire unit was quiet.  Not a baby was crying. In those few minutes as the baby passed I felt a calmness and I wondered if the babies could sense an angel in our presence? 

During orientation, I made my first friend in the NICU.  We were both new nurses and started our NICU careers together.  Now we are starting our travel nurse careers together.  It is amazing that both of these were completely unplanned.

I made so many close friends in the NICU. Without naming names, I am sure you know who you are.  There is “Booby juice checker”,youPublish Post got that name one night when everyone around you had to have breast milk checked.  You grew to be my closest friend in the NICU and I am really going to miss you. Another close friend, I worked next to the first time in the “family room” in the old unit.  We spent time together whenever our schedules worked out.   Nelson and I loved hanging out with you and your husband.  We will keep our friendship alive and see each other whenever possible.

When I was still on orientation during the day, I was told there is a secretary on nights that is wonderful and will make your life easier.  When I met this man, he made me feel at ease
and made it easy to ask for anything without feeling like I was interrupting.  This person grew to be a good friend.  We gave each other a hard time, lots, but it was all in fun and I will miss him.  By the way, just want you to know, your scrubs match!

There are so many more wonderful nurses, respiratory therapists, and secretaries that
made my experience at Saint Francis a warm and wonderful experience.  Thank you to everyone.  I will you.