I had quite a
few experiences in the neo-natal
unit. One was a child who had been born a beautiful,
healthy looking baby, but unknown to us at the time,had
contracted listeriosis-an unusual bacterial infection-
in utero. Dad was this big brawny fisherman who was
just tickled silly about his newborn daughter. He's so
excited he sleeps next to the crib, waking up every
once in a while to stare at his baby in complete
wonder. The next morning, he goes out on the boat to
bring in a haul of fish, because he still has to earn
a living, and this is a decent, hard working man.
Well, that day, the baby becomes sick and the
neonatal team is called to come down and pick up this
child-who is now septic- and take her back to the
intensive care unit. The next day here comes Dad
loaded down with about ten packages, all wrapped in
pink paper, and he doesn't know that the mother has just
been given word that the baby is dead. He's so upset,
we don't dare let him drive home, so we give him a cot
and set it up next to his wife's bed. He lies there
crying all night long holding on to her hand. So
there they were. The couple who had been trying to have
a baby for about ten years. The dad was a down-to-earth
man who had worked hard to provide a nice house and a
decent life for his wife and this child they'd tried so
hard to have. And when the doctor came down and went
in to explain what had happened, the father took a deep
breath and drew himself up to his full height. He put
his hand out and shook the doctor's hand and said, "I
want to thank you, Doctor, because I know you did the
very best you could to save my baby." Let me tell
you, if you hadn't been affected by the situation until
then, you couldn't help but take notice. To think of
the terrible thing that had happened and that this man
still had enough class to realize what effort had been
made. I've seen a lot of people with a lot more money
and education who wouldn't have had that much
class. It's really amazing the strength of human
spirit you see as a nurse.
The following is an excerpt from a
book by Echo Heron entitled Tending Lives-
Nurses on the Medical Front. Miss Heron is also the
author of the bestselling Intensive Care: the Story
of a Nurse, and Condition Critical: the Story of
a Nurse Continues. I came across her first book by
accident while I was at my sister's house; (she is an
avid reader.) I started browsing through it and
couldn't put it down! It was riveting and compelling.
True stories of her carreer as a nurse; Some sad and
poignant, others hysterically funny. I
definitely recommend it to everyone! This is from
her latest book, in which Miss Heron interviewed many
nurses and let them tell their
stories.