Angela
Ryterski
June 2013
Angela
Ryterski
,
RN
Women's Services
SSM DePaul Health Center
Bridgeton
,
MO
United States

 

 

 

Everyone associates OB as the happiest place to work. Bringing tiny new lives into the world day after day never sounds bad. When God has other plans, that is when OB becomes extremely challenging and it takes a special kind of nurse to ease the pain and care for the patients and their families.

Angie was assigned to care for a 27 wk UIFD. Angie made this patient and her family her main priority through the night. She developed a strong rapport right away with her sweet and caring personality, making the delivery just a little bit easier. After the baby was born Angie remained sensitive to the patient and family requests with their son. She gave them time to mourn their loss privately and switched her focus to making a memory for them.

Angie spent hours making a memory book for the family, adding her own special touches. She also included a heart shaped ceramic mold with their son's foot prints and a memory box filled with baby bands, blankets, a hat and outfit. The most touching gift was the memory book that Angie put everything into. She included baby's foot prints, handprints and locks of hair. She also took some breath taking pictures of baby's feet, hands and facial profile. When the staff working looked through the book Angie and most of us teared up, it was beautiful.

Angie lives the mission, vision and values of SSM daily but that night she went above and beyond for this family.