“I Love Your Child”

Rachel, my daughter, is a newborn critical care nurse. Her patients are usually premature and very ill. Some are catastrophically ill, almost unimaginably so.

As an emergency physician of 25 years, I have unbounded respect for pediatric critical care nurses. I am grateful for their compassion and skill.

Rachel once told me something that made me cry and burst with pride. When one of her patients is struggling against all odds, and needs every miracle to survive, she sits with the parents and speaks words of comfort.

“I want you to know, I love your child. And I’m going to take care of them.” 

That’s what she tells emotionally wrenched and exhausted parents. Then she goes back to work doing just that.

No matter what happens from that point, whether that tiny soul grows to adulthood or becomes an angel in another realm, those parents know a nurse loves their baby.

There is no care more skillful than love. There is no act more compassionate than love. There is no gift greater than love.