Nikki is a true example of a nurse who made a special and meaningful connection with a patient and her mother. A few months ago, we had a patient who received a berlin heart and spent many days, turned into weeks with us in the Cardiac ICU. Nikki bonded with this sweet baby and her mother and signed up to be her primary nurse. She spent time in between managing all of her medications and nursing care to take her outside while rolling with a berlin heart pump, an IV pole and an oxygen tank. Nikki knew that the best thing for that little patient was to see the sunlight, after weeks of not being able to go outside.
One morning, as I was walking through the unit, I saw Nikki outside her patient's room with art supplies, including no less than 5 different colors of tulle! She had unicorn stickers and was working on a tutu, which she was fashioning by hand to dress up her berlin heart! She cut and tied each piece of tulle by hand and strung it together to fit around the large machine that is pumping for this tiny patient's heart. She then lovingly placed unicorn stickers all around the machine to make it look less scary and industrial.
Nikki knew how to make that sweet baby smile with all of the colorful decorations. Her mom, for just a few minutes, could forget about all of the ICU wires and machines and enjoy the rainbow of colors that Nikki had decorated her daughter's room and berlin heart. This patient spent months with us in the Cardiac ICU, and even longer on the Cardiac Step Down Unit.
Her mom would come and walk through the ICU for visits after she went to step down, and I truly believe that this was because of the genuine and loving care that Nikki provided for this child while she was with us. Nikki is a true example of a role model nurse.