J Figueroa
January 2025
J
Figueroa
,
BSN, RN
PICU
Banner Desert Medical Center
Mesa
,
AZ
United States
This brought me to tears, and having this small memento not only makes me feel like I have a piece of my son with me, but it reminds me of the kindness and love that Nurse Jay showed my baby boy and my family.
About a year ago, my 16-year-old son was hospitalized for a traumatic brain injury and, ultimately, he passed away, but remained on life support until his organs could be donated. Nurse Jay was with us from the beginning. She was so absolutely kind, loving, and compassionate. She treated my son with such love and care as if she was his family. We called her Auntie Jay while we were there. She went above and beyond to make this nightmare experience as tolerable as possible.
I loved hearing her talk to my son. Jay is such a sweet, caring, and lovely young woman. When it became a reality for me that my son would not be waking up, she decided to do something so sweet for my family and me. She made these little ornaments with a small piece of paper with my son’s heartbeat on it. This brought me to tears, and having this small memento not only makes me feel like I have a piece of my son with me, but it reminds me of the kindness and love that Nurse Jay showed my baby boy and my family.
But what truly solidified my decision to nominate her for this award was on the day before my son’s honor walk, she came to me and told me that she had the next day off of work but had asked to pick up an extra shift so that she could be there for his honor walk and she said that whether she got the shift or not that she would be there. Well, she got the extra shift and came to me in the hospital room in scrubs with the announcement that she was going to be in the surgery room with him when they did the organ donation gift retrieval.
She truly showed my son, and all of us, so much love and I will never forget that. I will never forget the amazing young woman who was there for me and my family, but mostly for my sweet 16-year-old son, during the most painful and difficult time in our lives. I thank God for her every day, and the only reason it took me this long to fill out the nomination form was because of the grief and my own struggles. But it has sat on my mind for the last 14 months, and I needed to share this story and nominate this wonderful young woman for this award because she deserves it and so much more!
I loved hearing her talk to my son. Jay is such a sweet, caring, and lovely young woman. When it became a reality for me that my son would not be waking up, she decided to do something so sweet for my family and me. She made these little ornaments with a small piece of paper with my son’s heartbeat on it. This brought me to tears, and having this small memento not only makes me feel like I have a piece of my son with me, but it reminds me of the kindness and love that Nurse Jay showed my baby boy and my family.
But what truly solidified my decision to nominate her for this award was on the day before my son’s honor walk, she came to me and told me that she had the next day off of work but had asked to pick up an extra shift so that she could be there for his honor walk and she said that whether she got the shift or not that she would be there. Well, she got the extra shift and came to me in the hospital room in scrubs with the announcement that she was going to be in the surgery room with him when they did the organ donation gift retrieval.
She truly showed my son, and all of us, so much love and I will never forget that. I will never forget the amazing young woman who was there for me and my family, but mostly for my sweet 16-year-old son, during the most painful and difficult time in our lives. I thank God for her every day, and the only reason it took me this long to fill out the nomination form was because of the grief and my own struggles. But it has sat on my mind for the last 14 months, and I needed to share this story and nominate this wonderful young woman for this award because she deserves it and so much more!