On a brisk Saturday morning, the cold, harsh wind hits my face. I bear it, but only because I know I will be in my car in a few moments. I arrive, open the door, and buckle myself in. The warmer, more comforting air overtakes me; it is a sharp contrast to mother nature who has planted herself just outside my car door. I play my music, any genre is alright with me and drive for twenty minutes before I arrive at the place I have been anticipating going to since the middle of the week: my aunt’s house.
Yes, my aunt’s house, the home of Michelle Leoni. I am here to interview her about her job as a neonatal nurse, a career that has kept her busy for nearly 37 years. But why am I asking about her profession specifically? Couldn’t this just be any other family get-together?
It should be simple enough, but there is something of greater significance that lies beneath the surface, something that needs to be advocated for and spread to those who may not fully comprehend what is right in front of them, all around them, inside and outside. But we’ll get to that later.
I arrive at the door and she welcomes me in. She asks me if I would like a drink; I accept appreciating the kind gesture. She sits in the chair across from me and I give her the basics of what we would be doing for the next 10 minutes. She nods, excited to be talking about something that consumes her life in the best way possible. Without further ado, we begin.
I ask my aunt Leoni about what drew her into the medical field. What sparked her creative mind into pursuing an occupation that makes or breaks the lives of others–others who are newly born to be exact?
“In high school, I was a science person. I loved science,” she said. “I like to help people, and I originally thought that I would be a doctor, an obstetrician.”
This intrigues me. Not only because she has been enticed into this world since high school, but because there are so many options in the medical field to select. Medical matters apply to everyone, including the family members that are also dragged into the chaos, whether it’s simply going to an annual check-in at the doctor’s office or an emergency room when a life is on the line. Everyone has experienced this first-hand in one way or another. My aunt, more than most, is aware of how this impacts families, specifically parents.
“They’re [parents] are not expecting their baby to need this kind of care because everyone just thinks, ‘I’m going to be pregnant, I’m going to have a full-term baby, I’m going to take them home, everything’s going to be great.’ Well, that doesn’t always happen,” she said.
The stress and tiredness imposed upon the parents is something that Leoni knows she needs to take into account, especially since helping to heal the baby when complications arise is not her only task.
“As a nurse, it’s been a great thing for me in that I’ve learned over the years how to help the parents through this time,” she said. “One of my moms called it ‘trauma-bonding.’ If you have parents that have a baby and if they develop a feeling of trust with you – with the nurse – it makes so much difference in their stress level. They feel like they can give some of that parenting responsibility of worrying about the baby over to the nurse because they know that I have their baby’s best interest at heart.”
The last news that parents would want to hear is that their newborn child possesses complications that could potentially be fatal if not treated immediately. This truly allowed me to see serious matters such as these situations in a different light. Their own stress is the last thing that parents would want to dwell on; their first concern is their child. Nurses like my aunt realize this, but trusting an unknown person could be frightening for parents, even if that person is a nurse who knows how to handle these dire circumstances. The importance of people within the medical field is known uncomplicatedly but for families that have verifiable experiences regarding medical emergencies, it means the world to them that someone is there to help pick them up and guide them through a journey of grit and despair until results are found. Seeing this side of people and knowing that she is able to assist is nothing short of gratifying for my aunt.
“There’s nothing like having a family tell you, ‘We’re so glad you’re taking care of our baby today.’ It’s the best feeling in the world. I tell people all the time, ‘I have the best job in the world.’ I really do,” Leoni said.
As someone who does not have a clue of what they want their career to look like or consist of, knowing this concept of caring for others makes the medical field all the more appealing to me. If I am able to provide for parents and children adequately and see them continue on to live blissful lives after they have healed, I would be eternally content. If I happen to be intrigued by any medical profession in the future, I know exactly who to go to; I would be learning from the best.
“For me, nursing has been a great career, it’s been really flexible,” Leoni said. I would say, if someone is interested in it, they should really look into it. It can be a great career.”
After that, we talked for another hour; we discussed what I had been doing in school, family matters, and her wishes to invest in a tablet with a pull-out keyboard. We said our goodbyes and I headed back out the door, back outside in the cold and away from the comfort of a woman who performs wonders to save lives and lend a helping hand.
