ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — This week is Nurse Appreciation Week, and 10 Tampa Bay is telling the stories of our hard-working health care workers.
In St. Petersburg, there is a local woman who said she leaned on nurses at John Hopkins All Children's Hospital during one of the scariest times of her life. It was June 1989 when Donna Brickman delivered her baby girl to silence.
"Babies cry as soon as they're born, and I didn't hear anything," Brickman recalled.
That's because her daughter, Kristin Moen, was born with a severe cleft palate.
"They said her palate was totally gone, that all she had was her gum line," Brickman explained.
The condition made it a challenge for Kristin to eat and breathe.
"She was having apnea episodes constantly," Brickman said.
Fortunately, she was in good hands, receiving months of care and surgery at Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital, which also happened to be where Brickman worked as a project manager — and still does.
"Thank God and all the wonderful care she got. She was, she is a success, and I'm so proud," Brickman said.
She was made prouder yet when years later her baby girl would become a nurse at the very hospital where she was treated, Johns Hopkins All Children's.
Kristin Moen said, "I honestly don't know if I would be where I am if it wasn't for all of that as a kid."
Now, more than 30 years later, Moen has made a career in nursing, including a stretch in the NICU.
"I just had a really big interest in caring for others and being there for the families," Moen said.
It's an inspired career, helping families like her own.
Brickman thanked all of the nurses who work to help families like hers every day.
"I think nursing is one of the most difficult but rewarding careers that could be out there," Brickman said. "They're phenomenal and they just need to know they're appreciated by the families."