BUFFALO, NY (WKBW) — If you've ever spent time in a hospital, you probably experienced the many nurses who provided important care. This is National Nurses Week, May 6-12, a time set aside to honor the work of nurses and it ends Sunday.
“Every day nurses come to work. We give amazing care,” declared Jennifer Mendola, manager of NICU, Sisters of Charity Hospital.
Nursing care at Sisters of Charity Hospital on Main Street in Buffalo traces back more than 170 years ago as the city's first hospital.
As a Catholic Health Hospital, it offered a special blessing to its nurses on Friday afternoon.
“As we asked Your blessings upon this wall, on our new additions to the wall…through Christ our Lord, Amen,” prayed a priest as he sprinkled holy water in a hospital hallway.
"Part of the reason that I came to this organization is I was really drawn by the culture of care that I saw here, both from the nursing teams and all of the care providers who are working here,” Meghan Aldrich, president, Sisters of Charity, and St. Joseph Hospitals.
Aldrich tells me it’s an “incredible place” for nurses.
Mendola has been at sisters for 24 years and was honored with the Nurse of Distinction award and manages the hospital’s NICU.
"Nursing is truly the heartbeat of the hospital so they are with patients during times of happiness, during times of sorrow. they are there to support their family, so they are the frontline workers,” Mendola reflected.
“What's kind of the grit that you need to be a nurse?” Buckley asked. “To be a nurse, you need compassion, empathy, caring. It's hard work. There are days that are challenging,” responded Mendola. “But you know the team and a nurse comes to work every day and really gives 100% of herself to the care that she provides to her patients.”
On the hospital’s NICU floor nurses are dedicated to caring for infants.
“I feel like a lot of us as nurses here are lifers. We love our jobs. It’s very like you connect with the parents and the babies are here and you just you know, you grow with them,” explained Caitlin Vaccaro, NICU nurse.
Vaccaro tells me there is a special atmosphere in her unit.
"It's great. I’ve never wanted to be anything else. I’ve always just wanted to help other people. But it's being a NICU nurse specifically is even better. I just love babies,” Vaccaro commented.
But with a nationwide nursing shortage, hospital leaders are closely monitoring staffing.
“We have an ever-increasing obligation to provide opportunities for nurses, whether that means fantastic onboarding programs, opportunities to increase their education, flex hours. There's a host of things that we can do. Ultimately, you know, nurses are just like any other professional, they want to feel fulfilled in their work,” Aldrich explained.
“It’s a little bit alarming and disturbing to hear what's happening. All I can say is for Sisters Hospital and for the unit that I manage, making sure that we have a great work environment, and that they have the support and the supplies and the education they need. That's what's going to draw and attract nurses and retain nurses at the bedside,” described Mendola.
Vaccaro told me when nursing students come to the unit, they see how much the team of nurses works together “We're like family.”
"There isn't any other place that I’d want to be, and I know if I was in their shoes, I would want people here taking care of me,” Vaccaro replied.
