Tracy Johnston, RN
Methodist Women’s Hospital Omaha, NE
Nominated by Nicole Livesay
Tracy was there with us from the day Nora was born until the day she was transferred to the Children’s hospital for possible heart surgery. Nora was born at 23 weeks and 6 days. We were told of all the complications she could have and we were scared to death that something may happen to her. Tracy always was there with us to reassure us that everything was going great and that Nora was strong and would make it. The day after Nora was born she made sure that we had the opportunity to give her kisses and hold her hand. 10 days after Nora was born Tracy pushed for us to be able to hold Nora for her first skin-to-skin contact. She knew how important that contact would be for all of us and she pushed the doctors to make sure it happened. She was there to hand her to me for the first time and took our first family picture for us. She always made sure we had amazing pictures of Nora and made sure we bonded with her as much as possible. she was there with us for every up and down and helped reassure us that things would be ok when we thought they wouldn’t be. I was very sick as well after Nora was born and Tracy always showed concern for me as well and made sure that I was healing too.
On days when I had a fever and couldn’t go see Nora, Tracy would send special messages and pictures to my room for me. That made everything so much better! A month after Nora was born she had to be transferred to the Children’s hospital. She had a PDA that wouldn’t close and her oxygen was maxed out on the ventilator and couldn’t maintain her oxygen levels. Tracy was there the day they transferred Nora. She did everything she could to calm us and assure us that Nora would receive the best care possible at the new hospital. We have stayed in contact with Tracy over the last year and she is always the first to tell us how beautiful Nora is and remind us of how far she has come since she was born. We saw her last month at the NICU reunion and she was so excited to see us and Nora.
I am also a nurse and I know how important it is to form a bond with your patients and their families. Tracy was amazing and supportive every step of the way. I know she has touched so many other families the same way she touched ours because she is just amazing that way!! I don’t know what we would have done without Tracy by our side!