As Riley Hospital marks its centennial birthday this year, longtime team members on one unit are grateful for the family they created.
By Maureen Gilmer, Riley Children’s Health senior writer, mgilmer1@iuhealth.org
They might not sing and dance, but a team of Riley Children’s Health NICU specialists kicked up their heels like the New York City Rockettes to celebrate friendship and their Riley bond recently.
Fourteen ladies with decades of service to the neonatal intensive care unit at Riley gathered Monday for photos as they reminisced about the years they’ve spent together caring for Riley’s tiniest patients.
Organized by longtime nurse Penny Eldridge, the group, which wasn’t able to be together during the #Riley100 birthday celebration last month, represented well over 400 years of service among them, but that number would climb higher if it included a few others who could not attend.
One of those not in attendance was Jo Curtiss, who is closing in on a half-century of service to Riley as a nurse, and for several years has been volunteering with her dog on the pet therapy team.
When Eldridge joined the NICU nursing staff 31 years ago, there were already several nurses who were considered veterans with seven-plus years on the unit.
Many of those, including Susie McSwain and Stacia Nickel, are still in the NICU, where they’ve not only seen tiny preemies survive and thrive but watched as their own daughters followed in their path and joined the nursing profession.
Asked what’s kept them at Riley for so long, most pointed to the deep friendships they’ve nurtured for so many decades.
“I love working with the babies, but I also love working with these girls,” Eldridge said.
She and the others remember a time before private patient rooms when babies and their nurses were together in modules – 10 babies to a module – so the nursing staff got to know each other well, forging bonds and supporting one another through life’s ups and downs.
“Private rooms are the right thing for patients, but it definitely changed relationships,” said Gail Hocutt. Still, she said, “We are family.”
“We grew up together,” agreed Dana Realey. “We all started at a fairly young age here and have gone through all of the growing pains you have being a nurse.”
For Janda Dattilo, having her friends and co-workers on the unit caring for her premature twins so many years ago brought her a level of comfort she’ll never forget.
Those twins will celebrate their 26th birthday next month.
Back then, babies born weighing 1,000 grams or less (about 2.2 pounds) likely would not survive. The nurses were instructed to keep them comfortable. Now, babies born at 23 weeks and weighing sometimes just over a pound, can survive with excellent treatment.
The Riley Simon Family Tower NICU has 60 patient beds and a nursing team of more than 200.
Mary Fox started her nursing career at the old Wishard Hospital but moved over to Riley as a nurse practitioner three decades ago. Even though she is an advanced practice provider, the nurses “adopted” her into their family back then, she said.
“There were just a few of us back then, and I got to know everybody really well,” Fox said.
For this crew, Riley is synonymous with great care, of course, but also “everlasting friendships.”
“I just love telling people I work at Riley,” Eldridge said.
Those who gathered this week: Angie Sproles and Jennifer York, respiratory therapists; Mary Fox, NP; Marcia Nees and Brenda Hook, retired; Kelly Brock, Stacia Nickel, Susie McSwain, Cassi Barajas, Janda Dattilo and Penny Eldridge, all still working as nurses on the unit; and Dana Realey, Gail Hocutt and Arianna Duszynski, who now work in other areas at Riley.
Photos by Mike Dickbernd, IU Health visual journalist, mdickbernd@iuhealth.org