Melissa with her Nursing Director Carol and her Assistant Nurse Manager Brandy after receiving her DAISY.
February 2013
Melissa
Ferguson
,
RN, BSN
Labor and Delivery
Virtua Memorial Hospital
Mount Holly
,
NJ
United States

 

 

 

Brayden was born at 34 weeks. He was delivered early due to some known issues during my sister-in-law's pregnancy. Being a Labor and Delivery nurse myself, I never anticipated the events that took place after his birth.

Brayden turned out much sicker than expected. He was taken care of initially by the amazing team in the Special Care Nursery. It became evident that he would need a higher level of care and the decision was made to transfer him to CHOP. A fellow colleague and the Special Care Nursery notified Melissa of the situation with Brayden.

I have had the privledge of working with Melissa in the past. I knew she was an excellent nurse and had great passion for her field, but the night Brayden was born, Melissa went above and beyond in the care she gave my nephew and family. She came into the hospital, after her scheduled hours and late at night, to offer to take pictures of him and be there to support our family. Melissa had already met my sister-in-law once before; she had taken care of her when her first son was born. When Melissa arrived at the hospital, Brayden was in the process of being transferred to CHOP so there was no time for her to take pictures.

Once at CHOP, it was determined that Brayden had an underlying metabolic disorder and nothing more could be done for him. His family decided to transfer him back to Mt. Holly to be with his mom, since my sister-in-law had a repeat c-section and was unable to go with him to CHOP.

Brayden made it through the transfer back to Mt. Holly to Virtua Memorial Hospital to finally be with his Mom and Dad together as a family. He passed away in his mother's arms the next morning.

The Special Care Nursery reached out again to Melissa to notify her of the update in the situation and that Brayden had returned to Mt. Holly. She came back into the hospital yet again. While Melissa had initially come to take pictures, she acted as such a strong and generous support to our family. She has given us such beautiful memories of Brayden and her selfless acts that night will forever leave an imprint on our hearts.