October 2016
Alecia
Spurlock
,
RN
NICU
Children's of Alabama
Birmingham
,
AL
United States
When our baby was moved to Children's at 4 days old, we were told he likely wouldn't make it. He'd been through so much already, and nobody was very optimistic about his chances of survival. He was diagnosed at 16 weeks with a urinary tract blockage. He had surgery done at 19 weeks to try to correct it but lost all amniotic fluid at 25 weeks. He was born at 29 weeks, in almost complete kidney failure with extremely immature lungs. He needed dialysis, but nobody had ever dialyzed a baby as small as him. We came to Children's with so much hope, but not much optimism. We were terrified and had no idea what to expect. We live almost 4 hours away in Florida, and it's been so hard when we've had to be away from our baby.
For the first several months of our stay here, Alecia was our baby's daytime nurse, Monday-Friday, just about every week. If she was at work, she was taking care of him. He got to the point where he knew her voice and would respond when she came into the room, sometimes I think better than mine or my husband's.
In the 6 months that we've been at Children's, Alecia has been an amazing support to our family. She has cared for our baby and has given us reassurance when we've needed it, which has been a lot. She's gone to bat for him and been his advocate when my husband and I weren't able to be here, or even when we have been and haven't been in a state to deal with the situation ourselves. She has been a source of stability in an extremely unstable part of our lives. Alecia has made sure we've been taken care of. She's made sure we completely understand what's going on, what's being said by which specialty, and if something is unclear, she's gone above and beyond to make sure things get sorted out. She has been an amazing caregiver to our baby, and we've never felt anything other than 100% comfortable leaving him in her care. We know that she has his, and our, best interests at heart. Alecia is an amazing nurse, and we will definitely miss her when we move and our baby is transferred next month.
Note: This is Alecia's 2nd DAISY Award!
For the first several months of our stay here, Alecia was our baby's daytime nurse, Monday-Friday, just about every week. If she was at work, she was taking care of him. He got to the point where he knew her voice and would respond when she came into the room, sometimes I think better than mine or my husband's.
In the 6 months that we've been at Children's, Alecia has been an amazing support to our family. She has cared for our baby and has given us reassurance when we've needed it, which has been a lot. She's gone to bat for him and been his advocate when my husband and I weren't able to be here, or even when we have been and haven't been in a state to deal with the situation ourselves. She has been a source of stability in an extremely unstable part of our lives. Alecia has made sure we've been taken care of. She's made sure we completely understand what's going on, what's being said by which specialty, and if something is unclear, she's gone above and beyond to make sure things get sorted out. She has been an amazing caregiver to our baby, and we've never felt anything other than 100% comfortable leaving him in her care. We know that she has his, and our, best interests at heart. Alecia is an amazing nurse, and we will definitely miss her when we move and our baby is transferred next month.
Note: This is Alecia's 2nd DAISY Award!