Wow guys! A lot of what people have been writing about caring for families of dying babies. This certainly is a profound and
moving part of our jobs. ONE of the greatest privileges we have. However, in our unit, as in many other units,it is only a small
part of what we do. I would hate for a group of parents to "imagine" us as having emotionally wretching days every day.
Imagine discharging quads and through the halls of the hospital and everybody you pass stops and claps. Three years later you
still receive update pictures.
Imagine driving home late at night after a particularly testy day and you hear a graduate's mother on a late night radio call in
show... bragging about your unit and how healthy her baby is. You can't remember her baby but you wish you could reach
through the radio and hug her.
Imagine picking up your own child from school and running into another mother whos former 24 week preemie is now in third
grade with your child...and getting better math grades.
We recently lost one of our own nurses in a tragic car accident. Our families were so supportive. Just being able to hold little
babies brought me an immense measure of comfort as I mourned the loss of my friend. None of us would be able to go on with
our work if it were not for the hundreds of happy lives that graduate from our unit as well as yours every year. Parents need to
know babies do die and we nurses feel that pain very acutely. We feel bad for all our families who are cheated out of a normal
healthy baby experience. I am proud of the work we have all done to turn that tragedy around to heal those wounds and help
make families whole again.
The NICU really is a happy place with thousands of success stories. Whenever I speak to families of preemies or the general
public about my job I always emphasize those stories. Whenever family or strangers tell me they feel bad for me because I have
such a hard job I like to ask this "Have you ever helped at a car accident, a shelter, or a lost child at Walmart? That positive
"feeling" you got from helping another human in distress happens for me daily." I find that most people can imagine this scenerio
and get a little idea of the "high" behind NICU nursing.
Sherry Zampino RNc
