NICU reunion
Gathering at Rust Medical Center has a special meaning for families and nurses
For three weeks, Amanda Johnson’s newborn daughter Bristol received treatment in Presbyterian Rust Medical Center’s neonatal intensive care unit.
Two years later, Amanda and Bristol reunited with the hospital’s nurses and physicians alongside other families who received care through Rust’s NICU.
About 200 people attended the second annual Rust NICU reunion last Saturday. The event, held at the hospital, featured a pumpkin patch, family photos, music, crafts and games.
Mary Gannon, a NICU nurse at Rust, said she began the event last year to follow in the footsteps of Presbyterian’s main hospital in Albuquerque.
“The main Presbyterian had an NICU (reunion) every year and I thought it would be a good idea to do one for ourselves,” Gannon said.
Rust’s NICU includes physicians, 30 nurses and separate patient rooms to accommodate up to 11 babies and their families. Rust first began offering NICU treatment in 2011 and has since treated 1,000 of the 5,000 babies born at the hospital.
Rust delivers babies from pregnancies that range from 32 weeks and up — Gannon said the NICU can help treat premature babies with congenital birth defects, respiratory distress and various sorts of infection.
Amanda Johnson, who gave birth to Bristol after 32 weeks of pregnancy, said the nurses with Rust’s NICU helped her cope throughout the 22 days her daughter received treatment.
“My experience there with my daughter was very overwhelming for me because she was my first child and what I went through, being so scared and nervous — they were always so comforting and caring, not only to my daughter, but to myself,” Johnson said.
Gannon said the reunion event can have an emotional impact on families and nurses alike.
“For the nurses and doctors who get to see our babies that we’ve taken care of at some pretty critical points in their lives, the beginning of their lives — it’s really great for us to see the outcome of the hard work that we put into making them well again,” Gannon said. “It’s really great to see them now, eating cookies, running around — because it could be a very stressful, depressing time when you do have a baby and it is in the NICU.”
Amanda said she was thankful for the nurses and the reunion event.
“Just attending the reunion, and getting to know the other kids and the other parents, knowing that you’re not the only one who went through it,” she said. “I hope that Bristol, as she gets older and we attend these reunions, gets out of it that she knows and understands the people that were there for her, that helped her in her first days of life.”