primary care nurses, nursing care beyond the ... - School of Nursing

Primary Care NursingPremature Births InspireAlum’s Family to RepresentMarch of DimesBy Joy Laughlin (MSN ’03), BSNBeing a nurse offers many challenges,and with these challenges comes knowledge:that which is gained from pastexperience and that which is stored forfuture endeavors. But when you or a lovedone is lying in a hospital bed, clutchingonto life, such knowledge can becomeyour worst enemy.This was my story several years ago—the actual day of my graduation fromthe Clinical Nurse Specialist Programat the University of Pittsburgh Schoolof Nursing. I found myself fighting formy own life after giving birth to my verypremature daughter. It was a day my familyand I will not forget, a day when mynursing knowledge haunted me becauseI understood what all the numbers meant,and a day when my nursing knowledgehelped me because I understood why themachines were sounding their alarms.I was unaware of it at the time, butI suffered from HELLP (Hemolysis,Elevated Liver enzymes and LowPlatelets) syndrome, which caused meto enter preterm labor and deliver mydaughter three months early. Eventually,I made a full recovery and my daughter,Emma, also did very well and came homeafter spending seven weeks in the neonatalintensive care unit (NICU).Fast forward two years later andmy second child, Brady, was born—alsothree months early! Thankfully, I wasmore closely monitored and did not getnearly as sick as I did with my firstpregnancy. But I relived the samescenario, watching my tiny son clutch tolife. Once again, the nursing knowledgewas too much at times, while also notenough, as my little two-pound boybreathed in synch with the ventilator andwas fed through IV lines.After living through two verydifficult deliveries and watching our littleones fight for life, my husband and Idecided we wanted to help other familiesexperiencing the challenges of prematurebirth. We had heard about the March ofDimes, a well-known organization whosemission is to improve the health of babiesby preventing birth defects, prematurebirth, and infant mortality. The March ofDimes has played leading roles in thedevelopment of the polio vaccine,surfactant therapy, and most recently,the development of America’s regionalsystem of NICUs.Left: Emma and Brady Laughlin, now healthy active children.The Laughlins want other families to know, “It’s okay, there areresources out there.”Right: The 2008 March of Dimes Ambassador Family: Joy andTodd Laughlin with Emma and Brady.8 university of Pittsburgh