During the summer of this year, Hayley Good will begin her career as a nurse in the same neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) that she was a micro-preemie in.
Good, who graduated with a degree in nursing in May, says to PEOPLE, “I grew up knowing how the nurses saved my life.” Good is 22 years old. It was conveyed to me that they fought diligently and pushed for me, despite the fact that they were not even certain that I would be able to live.
Currently, she is looking forward to the opportunity to share with the parents of her patients her one-of-a-kind viewpoint on what life might be like after being discharged from the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU).
“It is just very special to be able to be that hope and light for them and to walk through the most difficult part of their life with them,” she adds.
Heith and Pamela Good, who resided in Amanda, Ohio, suffered the loss of their first pair of identical twin girls when they were 23 weeks old in the year 2001. They did not make it through the birth, according to Good.
They were pregnant once again with another pair of identical twin daughters a year after the first set of twins.
“There are no twins on either side of the family,” the speaker said. According to Good, “They would always tell me that they felt as though the Lord was giving them their twins back a year later.”
It was on June 9, 2002 when the nurse and her identical twin sister, Hillary, were brought into the world. Good weighed barely 1 pound and 9 ounces when she was delivered at 24 weeks. Her sister had just two days left to live.
Good explains, “She was so sick that she just didn’t survive due to her illness.”
Good was admitted to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at Ohio State University Medical Center for about four and a half months. She was also admitted to the NICU at Nationwide Children’s Hospital, where she had heart surgery immediately after entering the world.
The nurses at the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) who not only took care of her and saved her life, but also soothed and supported her whole family, were well known to her throughout her childhood.
She adds, “A lot of the nurses really tried to wrap my parents with just comfort and love and just caring for me to the best of their ability because they didn’t know what was going to happen.” She is referring to the fact that they were unsure of what was going to happen.
What else did she learn when she was growing up? To show her gratitude, she wanted to pursue a career in nursing. She utters, “That was the only thing I wanted to do.”
Her graduation from Cedarville University, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in nursing, took place on May 4th. On July 7, she will begin working in the neonatal intensive care unit at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus.
“The neonatal intensive care unit is where I feel the most at home,” she explains.
As she is ready to go on to the next stage of her adventure in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), Good is aware that her personal past has prepared her for the diverse spectrum of feelings that are in store for her.
When she adds, “I think the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, it can be very exciting and you just think of how exciting it is to care for babies,” she is referring to the fact that the NICU is the difference between a baby surviving and a baby dying. “For this reason, I believe that you are that midway ground, and you have the opportunity to care for both the kid who is flourishing and the child who may pass away. Additionally, I believe that you have the potential to take care of the complete family together.
Good hopes that she will be able to provide as live evidence that “there is hope” despite the fact that the NICU may be a challenging environment for families.
“It happened to me, and my parents were in that spot and they didn’t know what was going to happen,” she explains to me. When they are in the neonatal intensive care unit, I believe it is quite difficult for them to comprehend and see the possibility that their child would be able to go high school and college, graduate, and be successful.
She continues by saying, “that’s what I’m most excited for, to be able to share my story and show them that there is possibility, that it could be possible for their child too.”
