May 2024
Meet the Nova Team: Payton M.
Honoring Nurses Week, Mental Health Awareness Month and Mother's Day with a series of special associate profiles
Several of our nurses from our medical management area worked in labor and delivery (L&D) or post-partum care before they came to Nova. In celebration of National Nurses Week and Mother's Day, we're sharing their unique perspectives and insights.
How long have you worked at Nova? I started at Nova in December of 2023.
How long have you worked as a nurse? I graduated nursing school in May 2020. It was definitely a challenge starting my nursing career in the middle of a pandemic!
Describe your previous work in L&D and/or post-partum care: I started my career in the NICU right after I graduated nursing school. I would take care of newborns coming up right from delivery or newborns that were a few hours or days old that just needed a little more support. It was a challenging time since the number of visitors for baby were decreased and at times moms would be COVID-positive, delaying that bonding process. I found ways to include moms in their baby’s care by using an iPad to Facetime them when I was doing my assessments and feedings. I loved working with that population since I was often the first person to help parents with doing skin-to-skin, bathing or feeding their newborn.
Thinking about Mother’s Day, as well as May being Mental Health Month, please share your favorite part of working in L&D or post-partum care: My favorite part of working with mothers and newborns would have to be seeing the joy on the first-time or experienced moms face when they see their baby or babies thriving. Whether their baby is now tolerating increased feeds, transitioned from an isolette to an open air crib, getting to come off a ventilator, or even just going a day without having spit up, the look on their faces when I get to be the one to tell them just how much their baby is progressing is so rewarding. Being someone the family trusts to take care of their baby is such an honor because as parents, there is a limited amount of individuals who we trust to watch over our children. It was my goal to teach and educate moms, especially since they went through the whole pregnancy and delivery journey. Even just explaining their baby’s current medical condition just puts ease to parents’ minds and strengthens the trust between myself and parents.