NICU Reunion: Bringing Families and Our Mission Together

“Those nurses really became like family to us. Now, two years later they come and celebrate every birthday. They come to her birthday parties and celebrate with her so it’s really nice to stay connected.”

A patient family shared this sentiment in news coverage of our recent NICU graduation event, attended by over 400 families whose children received care in our NICU between 2021 and 2023. While each family has their own unique story, all interviewed families expressed deep gratitude for the care their child received from the NICU team. 

The NICU graduation gives families a chance to come together and celebrate their babies’ progress. It has long been a tradition for families to reunite with both the staff who cared for their babies during their earliest days of life and with the families who shared the experience. Having a child in the NICU can be extremely traumatic and stressful, so being able to return with their babies can offer healing for the families. 

It's also an amazing opportunity for staff to reunite with families and see the positive impact of their dedication to these babies. The graduation parties have been on hold since 2019 as a result of the pandemic. Consequently, our staff have not had the opportunity to participate in celebrating these accomplishments or to experience the joy of seeing their NICU miracles grow and thrive. By resuming the NICU graduation parties, we aim to offer children and families an opportunity to mark and acknowledge the milestones achieved in their early lives.

“We are the family they never, ever want to have. So, we see these babies, we support these families and then we get to see our absolute best success stories come back to us on a day like today,” says Rachel Russell, RN. “It makes our job worthwhile for every extra shift, every bad shift, we get these little ones running around like crazy and it means everything to us."  

Watch the full WSLS interview.