Colleen Stone
April 2025
Colleen
Stone
,
RN
Labor and Delivery
Indiana University Health North Hospital
Carmel
,
IN
United States
Colleen took it upon herself to call the lab and then call the funeral director, handling that situation with so much grace and care, even after we had left the hospital.
Colleen was my absolutely exceptional nurse for the three days I was in the hospital when my daughter C was stillborn at 40 weeks. More than anything, she shared both my joy and sorrow and did everything possible to make the sudden tragedy of my daughter's stillbirth more bearable. Colleen created beautiful handmade cards to put her footprints and handprints on, first asking my husband and me what our favorite colors were so that she could make them in those colors. She sat with me while I cried, advocated for me when my epidural stopped working, and expertly coordinated many things behind the scenes, including getting a photographer from Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep to come and take photos of us as a family of three, which we cherish.
Colleen also took photos of C herself, thoughtfully ensuring that we had as many memories as possible to take with us. She worked with my parents to allow them to spend time with C and took photos of them as well. Colleen made sure we had everything from photos to footprints to Christmas ornaments to plaster molds of our daughter's hands and feet, often coordinating with my night nurses to ensure that we would have these precious reminders to take home.
Clinically, Colleen listened carefully to my needs and always explained exactly what she needed to do and asked me if that was okay before she did it. When my epidural stopped working, and I was in so much pain, she did everything she could to help alleviate my pain and advocated for me to the anesthesiologists. She communicated so well with the other nurses, caring for me and with the doctors, ensuring that I was in good hands and that everyone was on the same page. She kept our room as a space of as much peace as possible, always warning us before someone else needed to come in.
After we had gone home, when the funeral home called us to say that there was some confusion about when they could expect our daughter to arrive and that we needed to get in touch with the lab downtown (which was conducting the tests), we called the unit to try to get a phone number for the lab. Colleen took it upon herself to call the lab and then call the funeral director, handling that situation with so much grace and care, even after we had left the hospital. I cannot imagine a more compassionate, caring, and skilled nurse.
Colleen also took photos of C herself, thoughtfully ensuring that we had as many memories as possible to take with us. She worked with my parents to allow them to spend time with C and took photos of them as well. Colleen made sure we had everything from photos to footprints to Christmas ornaments to plaster molds of our daughter's hands and feet, often coordinating with my night nurses to ensure that we would have these precious reminders to take home.
Clinically, Colleen listened carefully to my needs and always explained exactly what she needed to do and asked me if that was okay before she did it. When my epidural stopped working, and I was in so much pain, she did everything she could to help alleviate my pain and advocated for me to the anesthesiologists. She communicated so well with the other nurses, caring for me and with the doctors, ensuring that I was in good hands and that everyone was on the same page. She kept our room as a space of as much peace as possible, always warning us before someone else needed to come in.
After we had gone home, when the funeral home called us to say that there was some confusion about when they could expect our daughter to arrive and that we needed to get in touch with the lab downtown (which was conducting the tests), we called the unit to try to get a phone number for the lab. Colleen took it upon herself to call the lab and then call the funeral director, handling that situation with so much grace and care, even after we had left the hospital. I cannot imagine a more compassionate, caring, and skilled nurse.