Seventeen months ago our son was a newborn in the NICU at the University of Iowa. We spent 21 long days there. On day 9, our son was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis. During our stay, we had a variety of nurses and ancillary staff. One nurse stood by my side during the hardest days of my life, Kristy. Every morning, the neonatologist would start with the sentence, "There is a good chance your son has cystic fibrosis." This would send me into uncontrollable crying, which caused my ears to "turn off". Every morning, (per my request) Kristy would stay in the room and listen to report. Later in the morning, when I was able to hear and listen, she would repeat what was said to me and what the plan was. Kristy answered my questions, as well as my husband's and other family members' questions. She took the time to listen, and if she didn't know that answer, she either found it or found someone that did know. Our son was the patient, but she took time to make sure that our needs were met (more mine than my husband's). She was able to do for us, what I was temporarily unable to do. While our son was not her only patient, we never felt rushed or as if our questions or needs didn't matter.
Fifteen months after our stay in the NICU, I started nursing school. When I'm having a rough day as a student or in clinicals, I often think of Kristy and remember how dedicated she is to her talent/skill. She is the true definition of what a nurse is. She has a real compassion for her job. She gave me a strong role model as to the type of nurse I want to be. She might not realize how much she impacted our lives.
While I will never be able to say that I'm "happy" our son has CF, Kristy's positive attitude definitely set me in the right direction. My acceptance has been a very long road. One thing Kristy taught me was to have "my moment" and then take the next step to move forward.
Seventeen months later, she still helps guide me with my daily task of providing the best care for my son. It's amazing how the time she spent with us during a "brief" 3-week stay has impacted us forever.