This DAISY Award nomination is coming in paired with another nomination as we couldn't have survived the loss of our daughter without these nurses. Sierra signed up to be our primary a few weeks after we got transferred to SC. And what a burst of fresh air she was. We were having such a hard time with our transition, we'd had E. (our first primary) who we trusted, but on the days she wasn't working it felt like we were flailing to find some familiarity and struggling to find people we felt like cared for our girl as much as we did.

Sierra came in and just immediately was the mother figure we were hoping our daughter could have when we couldn't be there. She fought for us countless times. She advocated for us to get a bed with social work when we needed to be close by. She heard me when I cried over feeling like H. wasn't getting enough comfort care and made sure everyone on the unit knew this girl was special and needed special care.

I would come in on the mornings and see Sierra in there brushing H.’s hair, or adjusting her swaddle to be just right, or just standing and talking to her, letting her know she was loved and not alone. And she did this all while somehow being on top of all of her actual responsibilities of the day. There was a night when H. got really close to death unexpectedly, and when we found out Sierra was going to be coming in in the morning, I can't explain the wash of relief that came over us. Because we knew she would do everything above and beyond in her power to make sure our girl was okay.

H. lived and fought for a long six months and when she did eventually pass away in November of 2024, Sierra was off shift, but we asked the charge nurse to get in contact with her and let her know what was going on. There are so many nurses that showed up for us on that last day that I wish I could name and nominate them all, but our primaries Sierra and E. went above and beyond. They came in on their days off, bright and early at shift change and stayed with us the entire day. From 7am–10pm they were there to hold our hands, give us space when we needed it, make sure we got all of the family pictures we could hope for. Packed up our life we'd made in that NICU room and helped us load up our car. They caught me as I collapsed after handing my daughter off to be taken to the morgue. Not to mention, she did all of this while 8 months pregnant and ready to pop at any moment.

Words truly don't exist to portray their impact on us and the whole reason we think of our stay at SC with some fondness, despite the pain. I am in nursing school right now and they are everything I want to be as a caregiver one day. Honestly, the whole NICU team deserves daisies, but if I have to pick one, then Sierra absolutely deserves it.