One NICU nurse in Tennessee has made it her mission to connect with and help her patients, because her unique nursing story started in the very same NICU department.
Kim Meek was 24 weeks pregnant with her daughter in 2008 when she suddenly became very ill. After being rushed to the hospital, she was diagnosed with HELLP Syndrome, which is a life-threatening high blood pressure pregnancy complication. Doctors had to deliver Meek’s baby immediately in order to save her life. Her daughter, Mary Farris Meek, weighed just 1 pound 3 ounces at birth.
Little Mary Farris required significant intensive care during her early life, including 15 surgeries. During that time, Meek said she grew to have a deep appreciation for the doctors and nurses caring for her daughter.
“You come in, somebody’s rocking your baby; you come in, someone’s reading to your baby. One day you come in and they made her a moustache made of cotton balls,” she told The Tennesseean. “It was precious.”
She also remembered that the nurses worked hard to help her see herself as a mother, calling her “Mom” and referring to Mary Farris by her first name.
“It was really difficult for me to bond with a baby in a plastic box. It’s really scary stuff,” Meek said. “But those little things made me able to see her differently. They help you realize this is your child, your baby, not just some sick infant with wires and tubes and monitors.”
After Mary Farris was sent home a few months later, Meek said she couldn’t stop thinking about her experience in the NICU.
“I couldn’t get past it, all her trauma, the grieving over the loss of what you had planned, the guilt that every time something goes wrong with her health, you think it’s because you couldn’t carry them to term,” she said.
Feeling a pull to help others in the NICU, Meek decided to take the leap and apply for nursing school. She now works at the very same NICU that helped Mary Farris: Ascension Saint Thomas Midtown. There, she is known for her personal touch, like visiting patients even after they’re discharged from the hospital. She also makes special Halloween costumes for the babies each year and has made Christmas costumes as well.
“She’s just an awesome nurse,” said her former supervisor, Kathy Watson, “and anybody that has the opportunity to have her as their nurse in the NICU is very blessed.”
Meek maintains that the long-term connections she forms with many of the families is part of what makes her job so special.
“I love getting picture updates, text messages, and seeing posts where a family remembers something I said or did during their stay. It’s very rewarding when a parent brings their baby back for a visit or attends a NICU reunion and asks to have their picture made with me,” she said.
“I work with tiny little fighters and get to witness miracles. These babies and their families have helped me heal. I am proud to be a NICU mom. I am honored to be a NICU nurse.”
