Health Care Quarterly:

Staff and hospital go above and beyond helping family

Joel and Rosemarie Andaya pose with their daughter Alita and NICU nurse Johanna Gurr at Mountain View Hospital Tuesday, April 2, 2019. Gurr learned basic sign language to communicate with the parents who are both hearing impaired. Alita was born Jan. 16, 2019.

Care and compassion are the hallmarks of registered nurse Johanna Gurr, who has been with MountainView Hospital’s Neonatal Intensive Care Unit for the past 14 years. A shining example of this is her care of premature baby Alita Andaya and her parents, Rosemarie and Joel Andaya.

After learning that Alita and Joel are deaf, Gurr learned sign language to help the parents feel more comfortable through their child’s treatment and recovery. Alita’s family was put at ease as Gurr was able to communicate basic needs with the family. (Patients at the hospital can request certified sign-language translators as needed.)

Alita is now very healthy. Her mom said, “Johanna really helped me, and gave me confidence to hold my tiny little baby.”

“The job of parents is to care for their babies,” said Gurr, an NICU mother herself. “When something goes wrong and plans change, the parents can feel helpless or even feel like a failure. But they are certainly not failures. A big part of my job is to break down that anxiety, explain that their baby will be on a different journey, and they will play a key role in that journey.”

At MountainView’s NICU, parents are always viewed as part of the care team. “While we are treating and caring for the babies, we’re also attending to the needs of the parents,” said Gurr.

NICU Manager Melissa McDonald said the level of care provided by Gurr is typical of the nearly 40 nurses in the unit, many of whom have worked together for well over a dozen years.

MountainView’s NICU was recently upgraded to Level III after having been a Level II since 2003. According to McDonald, Level III means the NICU can care for babies of any gestational age. McDonald said the only exception is cardiac surgical patients, who are taken to Sunrise Hospital and Medical Center.

“Opening a Level III NICU at MountainView brings high-level neonatology to our community and allows for babies to be cared for close to home,” said McDonald.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that one in 10 babies in the United States are born premature (www.cdc.gov/features/prematurebirth/index.html). To provide better care to premature babies, MountainView’s 7,200-square-foot, 24-bed unit features new state-of-the-art equipment, including specialized isolation rooms.

Additionally, NICU providers received intensive Level III training to ensure babies and parents would get the best care possible. The NICU also offers “perinatal navigation services,” in which the “navigator” works behind the scenes to help things run smoothly for the parents and their baby.

“This service starts in the obstetrician’s office when a mom is diagnosed with a high-risk pregnancy or other serious problem,” said McDonald. “The navigator meets with the mom, follows the process into the NICU and after the mom and child go home.”

Gurr said, “I have found my calling in life. I work with nurses and doctors who are the most wonderful individuals I’ve ever worked with. They work so hard to make every baby’s experience a positive one, while also catering to the needs of the parents.”

“With this latest expansion, we are able to provide the highest level of care for our tiniest patients, in a warm and welcoming environment that purposely seeks to include the entire family,” said MountainView Hospital Chief Executive Officer Jeremy Bradshaw.

Bradshaw added that MountainView is the only designated top teaching hospital in Nevada and has earned an “A” Quality Score from the Leapfrog Group.

For more information on MountainView Hospital, visit www.MountainView-Hospital.com.

Dave Sheehan is public relations director for MassMedia and a spokesman for MountainView Hospital’s NICU.

Share