Chris Brown
January 2024
Chris
Brown
,
RN
SFT NICU
Riley Children's Hospital at IU Health
Indianapolis
,
IN
United States

 

 

 

She truly helped this family through the most difficult time and helped them through one of the toughest decisions a parent should never have to make.
Chris Brown went above and beyond her scope and showed a family and a patient care, love, and compassion they needed during a devastating time. J was born with SMA and was given a grave prognosis. Chris sat at the bedside during her shifts for hours at a time with the parents just talking and giving them a hand to hold and an ear to listen. She truly helped this family through the most difficult time and helped them through one of the toughest decisions a parent should never have to make. She sat at the bedside for over 3 hours one night while the mom held J because the mom asked her to. The last time she held her, J had an event that really scared her and was hesitant to even hold her after that. So, Chris sat in the room to help calm the mom and put her mind at ease so she can spend precious moments holding her baby (knowing, her time with J would be limited).
Through all of that, she also gave the family moments of joy by celebrating the small moments of positivity. She took it upon herself to give the family a small moment of normalcy and assisted with a turtle tub bath for J during one of her shifts (in the middle of the night). Some may have just told parents that they'd pass that off to dayshift. But not Chris. The parents asked and she jumped to it. After ensuring J’s safety, she laid some ground rules and set up a game plan and spent the time with the family and J to give them this special moment. And J rocked it and visibly enjoyed her midnight pampering/spa treatment. Chris took on more roles than just the role of bedside nurse for this family. She made a difference in their experience with the worst possible outcome for their child. When I grow up, I want to be just like Chris!