I spent most of last year expecting the best day of my life, the day that I'd get to deliver my first child, in a place that I call home. I'm not only lucky enough to have been an inpatient at Virginia Hospital Center last August but also a proud employee since August of 2009. This institution exemplifies all the best that nursing has to offer: compassionate nurses, people who put the interests of others at the forefront of their practice, and practitioners who take pride in the myriad of important differences they make in their patients lives everyday, every moment that they give.

My husband and I got to experience this extraordinary nursing care last year on what we can now only describe as the best and worst day of our lives. After expecting an easy delivery because I was blessed with such a wonderful pregnancy, we were given the news every new parent fears more than any other: "your baby no longer has a heartbeat." I walked into our hospital on August 25th last year, pregnant and clinging to hope. We left that night broken and torn to pieces. The next morning, we returned to face the inevitable: I would have to give birth to our child, to be born still and not breathing. The first person we saw that morning of August 26th, and the winner of the most memorable embrace of the entire day, was a friend, a coworker, a nurse deserving of this prestigious DAISY award, Valerie Foster.

"Val," as she's affectionately known throughout VHC's Women and Infant Health department, made the most difficult nursing assignment seem as though it came naturally to her, as if the level of caring she'd be expected to provide to parents who'd lost their child was something she afforded all of her patients. I guess she didn't really have a choice, though, since I requested her specifically to be my primary nurse. As we settled into the room, Val oriented us to our surroundings. (I was fairly comfortable already, as I got my start as a nurse in VHC's L&D unit, but Val appropriately understood that my husband was not.) She didn't leave out a single step. We were just like every other family coming to deliver their baby that day. This was a crucial aspect of the way that she delivered our care that day. She didn't skip a beat. She walked me through my care plan, making sure to stop and explain further whenever we needed her to do so, in order to ensure that our experience could be as positive as possible. Throughout the entire day, Val put our family's needs first. From the blood draws, the calling for the epidural placement (including its subsequent replacement and the almost comical CADD pump false alarms), the starting of the Pitocin to induce my labor and the minutes leading up to the actual delivery, to the coordinating of visitors that we wanted to be there with us, she was first and foremost an advocate on our behalf. She never lost sight of helping me to achieve my ultimate goal: I would bring my child into this world with a huge smile on my face, embracing my husband's hand and the intense love we shared for our sweet little one.

If this scenario doesn't describe the important difference a nurse can make in someone's life, I don't know what can. Being dealt the card of becoming a parent to a stillborn is something only 1 in 160 parents have to face. It is devastating. Earth shattering. It breaks your world into a million pieces. However, I live among the lucky few. What could have existed for eternity in mine and my husband's life as our single worst day is also our best. We never could have accomplished this seemingly insurmountable task without Val's guidance. She was the caregiver who ensured that the delivery came together smoothly. Just like the family that created this award to show their heartfelt appreciation for the nurses that cared for their son, Pat, we were guided through the darkest hours of our lives with the utmost of compassion. With hugs even. And yes, with a little bit of laughter. The healing process is still very much ongoing for me and my husband, but it all began that day with the strength and passion that Val gives to every patient for whom she cares. We were beyond fortunate to have her as part of our team on our son's birthday. Our child had one of the best nurses our hospital has to offer. We may be the luckiest parents alive to have been chosen as his mom and dad, but he was the luckiest baby to have received his first swaddle from an exceptional nurse named Val Foster.