The bond between parents and their NICU Nurse can create friendships for life. Nurses help parents touch and hold their baby for the first time, change their diapers, and take their temperature. They manage parents’ fear and anxiety over having a baby in the NICU and help them feel empowered to take care of their child. Experiencing the NICU can also have a profound impact on a person leading them into a new career or guiding them toward giving back in meaningful ways. Today we are joined by NICU nurses Amanda Jacobus and Sheila Tarr. 

Amanda has been a registered nurse for over 18 years. She spent the first 5 years of her career working on a neurology unit. However, her career path drastically changed after her daughter, Hope, was born 15 weeks premature in 2005 at Abington Hospital. She wanted to find a way to pay it forward to other NICU families. And, what better way could there be to do that than to work beside the neonatologists & nurses who saved her daughters life. She has spent the last 13 years working as a NICU nurse, first at Abington Hospital & now at Einstein Medical Center Montgomery where she is the head charge nurse. 

Sheila Tarr was born in Manila, Philippines. She worked at both Retama Manor and McAllen Medical Center in Texas before moving to Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital of NewYork-Presbyterian and then Abington Jefferson Health where she takes care of both babies and families in the NICU. She has a loving Husband Blaise and is blessed with a younger sister, Sandra, with Down Syndrome. Sheila is also an active member of Bugasong Pag-Ulikid Foundation USA. This foundation was founded in 1989 with the help of her parish priest, the late Father Juaquin Dioso. The foundation helps with a variety of medical missions, livelihood and education projects for the church, schools and the poor of the town, Bugasong. 

On this episode you will hear:

• Amanda and Sheila share a little about their journey to becoming NICU nurses, with you, and discuss why they chose this field.
• Amanda and Sheila discuss the first things they say to NICU parents.
• For many of us - multitasking, anticipating the future, researching information, etc...are all a part of our daily lives. Amanda and Sheila talk about how you, as parents, can stay “in the moment” while spending time with your baby.
• With all of the tubes and wires, holding your baby in the NICU is a scary experience. You'll hear about how Amanda and Sheila walk parents, like you, through holding your baby for the first time.
• Amanda and Sheila will discuss what you can do when you are struggling with breastfeeding.
• Sheila has taken her personal experience as a NICU nurse and expanded her reach to help others in the Philippines. She will share information about the Bugasong Pag-Ulikid Foundation USA and the impact the foundation has made during the pandemic.
• Amanda and Sheila discuss the moments that made a significant impacts on them as a NICU nurses.

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This episode was produced and directed by Tony Lopes, of SoftStix Productions LLC (www.softstixproductions.com), in collaboration with co-producer and director of photography Michael Leary, of One Fifteen Films LLC (www.onefifteenfilms.com), and editor David DeLizza.

Copyright 2020 to 2022, SoftStix Productions LLC.