Alex Kincaid: “The idea that I can care for people who are often in their darkest days … I feel like I ended up right where I needed to be.”
By Maureen Gilmer, Riley Children’s Health senior writer, mgilmer1@iuhealth.org
Alex Kincaid is just a couple of years into her nursing career on the PICU at Riley Hospital for Children, but she is already shaping the careers of future nurses.
Nikki Ayala works as a tech on the unit and had the opportunity to be mentored by Kincaid during an internship this summer that taught her more than she could have imagined.
“If you asked me what kind of nurse I wanted to be two months ago, I probably would have said I wanted to be a compassionate and empathetic nurse with strong critical-thinking skills,” Ayala said in nominating Kincaid for a DAISY award in June.
“If you asked me today,” she continued, “I’d tell you that I want to be a nurse just like Alex.”
Compassionate, empathetic, strong critical thinker. Yes, yes and yes. Those words describe Kincaid, a Johnson County native who graduated from Greenwood High School and Marian University.
Thanks to Ayala’s nomination and the consensus of her colleagues, Kincaid received the DAISY award last month in a surprise ceremony on the unit.
“To realize the impact I’ve made on some of my patients and the families and even nursing students like Nikki, it’s very rewarding,” said Kincaid, who has worked with kids in some capacity since she was a teenager.
While working as a nurse in a pediatric intensive care unit wasn’t necessarily her goal, it feels right, she said, even when it’s hard.
“The PICU is not all rainbows and butterflies, and we do witness a lot of emotionally challenging things,” she said. “But honestly, the idea that I can care for people who are often in their darkest days … I feel like I ended up right where I needed to be.”
She and Ayala worked closely for several weeks caring for two patients with unique struggles. One was eventually discharged, while the other passed away.
“Alex’ decision to be this patient’s primary nurse during his final days was one of the most selfless decisions I’ve ever seen a healthcare professional make,” Ayala said. “She put her patient and his family first when they needed her most. Alex was undeniably the light this family needed on their darkest days.”
The lessons Ayala took from that experience will carry her forward in her nursing career, she said, and she is grateful that Kincaid was by her side through the joy and the sadness.
“Even on the days when I felt like everything was crashing down, she grounded me and always had the right thing to say.”
Kincaid turns that compliment back around on Ayala, saying the younger woman was “amazing” with the families. “It says a lot about Nikki and the nurse she will be one day.”
Kincaid also credits the team around her for lifting her up, just as they do each other, during the hard times.
And she’s found that a certain four-legged, droopy-eared canine can be a remarkable sounding board.
“We take lots of emotional walks,” she said of her puppy named Millie that she got not long after she became a nurse. “It’s good therapy.”
She also enjoys retail therapy and sports, joining her boyfriend in a sand volleyball league every summer and playing a little basketball just for fun these days.
Nominate a nurse who exemplifies excellent clinical skills and compassionate care here.
Photos submitted and by Mike Dickbernd, IU Health visual journalist, mdickbernd@iuhealth.org
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