Kassie is a fabulous team member in the NICU at Eskenazi with a wonderful work ethic and an inclusive, loving perspective for all of her patients, their families, and colleagues. She is humble and unassuming, always there and willing to help, calm in the midst of crises, and caring for those who are often not visible to most of us. Recently, she welcomed a family from the East Coast who were here to adopt a newborn baby who was in the NICU for over 3 weeks, going through withdrawal from maternal opiate exposure. The couple has a 4-year-old little boy who was also adopted and went through similar withdrawal as a newborn. L fell in love with Kassie, who then helped make him comfortable in the hospital and helped him bond with his new little brother. I watched how Kassie loaned him her stethoscope so L could make sure all of us had healthy hearts, and he became Doctor L!

One morning, he came through the door of the NICU with his wonderful parents, saw Kassie, and ran to jump into her arms. More recently, Kassie was called down to the ER by one of our neonatology fellows to help with a 9-day-old baby who had just arrived in extremis - Kassie ran down, started an IV successfully, and helped to stabilize the baby for transport to Riley - all without saying a word, and just going about her work. She is always stopping by our Family Support Office to help put together new supplies for all our families - gift bags full of care items, flowers for each mother, baby dresses sewn by volunteers, books for parents to read to their newborns. Kassie is always looking for ways to help get it all done. When she is the charge nurse for the day, she calmly helps to coordinate care, supporting her colleagues and trainees with professionalism while helping each feel personally cared for. Kassie cares, and she loves what she does; she also loves all those in the margins she serves.