Jess has truly found her place working in a children's hospital. Her ability to turn the scariest time in our 8-year-old daughter’s life into moments of calm, understanding, and a sense of control is truly a gift.

Our daughter thought she was coming to the hospital for some medicine and a scan and would get better and go home, like always, when you’re a child, and you’re sick.

That visit turned into being admitted and then having a very complicated surgery that didn’t go as planned. What she thought would take hours turned into overnight, and then that nightmare started for her when she woke from surgery to find the doctors couldn’t tell her when she would be going home. And all just 2 weeks before Christmas.

When others came in and talked about our child, she came in and talked to her.

She helped her feel as if she was part of the big decision-making, even when she had to push our daughter to do things she was afraid of or didn’t want to do. And in those moments, she still managed to help her find a sense of calm and understanding.

She was loving, gentle, and firm to push back with her when she needed it.

She knew when something would be painful and scary for a child so small and terrified, and still had a way of making our daughter understand the importance, understand the process, and understand that she would help her through the fear, when any other time our daughter would shut down on others.

She spoke to her in a way that let her know that although she was little, her opinion mattered and her feelings were ok.

She showed she truly cared about her getting better, encouraging her to do things that helped her recover, taking so much extra time to make sure IV’s were still functioning properly, redressing to get the best possible outcome, calling for surgical consult's multiple times, checking the little things that sometimes get overlooked, checking all the boxes every time she stepped into our room.

She is truly a gift to any child who has the pleasure of being cared for by her. Sometimes I think nurses forget that these are not adults, they are children; small, scared, hurting little people who don’t understand, and just need someone to slow down and take their time with them.

And Jess is exactly where she is supposed to be. She is doing the best, impacting the smallest and most important lives.

Thank you, Jess, for your kindness and your dedication to what it truly means to be a nurse for children.