What Bravery Means to Me as a NICU Nurse
“Bravery. I see it every day in the NICU. As a NICU nurse, I witness bravery in my coworkers. The dedicated neonatologists, respiratory therapists, and fellow nurses I have the privilege of working with have shown bravery in choosing to care for neonates. We could have chosen to care for any age range or medical specialty, but we all chose to take care of the tiniest, sometimes most medically critical patients in the world, which I feel is such a courageous, brave choice.
I see my coworkers further display bravery every single day by simply showing up to work. Walking onto the unit, we don’t know what kind of day it’s going to be. We don’t know if our day will be filled with smiles and joy or heartbreak and grief, but we all still show up day after day regardless. Bad days are unavoidable with a career in the NICU, but we still come back the following day to continue providing care to our tiny patients because we know they need us.
We continue to return to our jobs despite the sadness we sometimes see, because there truly is no greater job that caring for neonates. Seeing my coworkers being willing to step into the unknown, put aside their own outside lives, and whole-heartedly dedicate themselves to their patients is extremely brave in my eyes.
Bravery doesn’t stop there. I see bravery in the parents of my patients. These parents are undeniably brave to leave the greatest thing they could ever love, their precious child, to be cared for by someone they just met. They have to trust that we as providers will care for their children to the greatest of our abilities without knowing anything about us other than that we hold a medical license. They are trusting their child’s tiny life in the hands of a complete stranger.
Not having any children of my own, I can’t begin to imagine the fear and pain parents experience having to be away from their baby. With many of our babies, especially with our micropremies born very early, parents have to return to work before their baby is discharged and can’t constantly be at the bedside. So they trust us as healthcare providers to love, protect, and care for their baby. The bravery of these parents is absolutely unmatched and it’s such an honor to get to care for their little ones.
Bravery is exemplified in my little patients themselves. It’s incredible how brave these babies are and they don’t even know it! They will be told stories later in their life about how they conquered all odds and fought hard to live the life they were meant to live. It’s such an honor to care for them and witness their immense bravery firsthand.” NICU Nurse, Alicia