NICU nurses bring cheer to preemies in hospital during holidays

Hardworking NICU nurses go above and beyond for preemies in their care

NICU nurses went above and beyond to give the gift of cheerful memories for preemies in the hospital and their families during the holidays.

(San Antonio, TX)  ­­– ‘Twas the nights before Christmas and all through the hospitals, a group of night-shift NICU nurses made an extra special holiday gift for preemies possible. While the preemies were snuggled all warm in their cribs, their nurses in the Neonatal Intensive Care Units (NICU) at Baptist Health System went above and beyond to put on sweet NICU photo shoots to bring Christmas cheer to the parents of these tiny tots who must spend the holidays in the hospital.

These nurse “elves” are Marjonelle “Marj” Nabua, RN, Michelle Ferrer Armstrong, RN, and Katrina Tovar, RN, night-shift NICU nurses in the NEST Women’s Services Unit at Westover Hills Baptist Hospital. Alma Alarcon, RN, is a night-shift NICU nurse at Mission Trail Baptist Hospital on the south side. These hardworking nurses spent their lunch hours and break time coordinating and crafting a winter wonderland for the NICU infants to create lasting memories for them and their parents. None of these nurses have professional photography experience, but their passion for their profession and their patients is clearly evident in the care they give and their photo shoot results.

At the NICU at Westover Hills Baptist Hospital, Ferrer-Armstrong said she sees how difficult it can be for NICU parents to be away from their newborns, especially during the holidays. “We understand and so we want to do everything we can to help strengthen the bond between the parents and their babies,” she said. “One way is to go beyond our regular work day and capture these infants’ first precious moments with a holiday photoshoot. We definitely have the most adorable babies in our NICU, and we can’t help but want to share their cuteness with their parents and the community,” Ferrer-Armstrong said.

Preemies in the NICU were treated to their first holiday photo shoot at Baptist Health System courtesy of the night-shift nurses.

NICU Nurse Marj Nabua, who takes the photos in the NICU at Westover Hills Baptist Hospital, said the photo shoots aren’t just for fun. “I want parents to see and experience the brighter side of the NICU. The photo shoots help the parents bond with their babies and with the NICU staff,” she said. “We get to understand their needs and their preferences of how they want their babies to be taken care of, and it improves our quality of care. It's also very rewarding to see the parents’ excitement when they see their babies’ pictures and to see the results of our hard work,” Nabua said.

At Mission Trail Baptist Hospital on the south side of town, NICU Nurse Alma Alarcon, RN, not only does photo shoots with their NICU preemies, she also creates other arts and craft projects such as preemie footprint art on canvas that she gifts to the parents.

“I absolutely love being a NICU nurse,” Alarcon said. “My mom and dad are proud of me and support my work. My mom even gets involved and helps me sew and glue things together for my photo shoot sets,” she said. I have so much support from my hospital family as well as my personal family for what I do. We all know how much these tiny babies have to overcome in their first moments of life. So when we can bring joy to the families of these babies, it brings us just as much joy too,” she said.  Nurses and hospital staff at the NEST at Baptist Health System are proud to care for new moms and their newborns 24/7 with the highest level of NICU care available, dedicated OB hospitalists and an OB Emergency Department. They wish everyone a happy and healthy holiday season.