Nurse Adopts Baby Girl After Family Stops Visiting

Every day, nurses touch the lives of other people. 但每隔一段时间，其中一个病人就能永远改变护士的生活. And this was exactly what happened when nurse Liz Smith (波士顿方济各儿童医院的医生)第一次看到了婴儿吉赛尔.

Gisele’s story was a sad one. 出生时只有29周的吉赛尔在很多方面都面临着一场艰苦的战斗. 她的早产只是因为她母亲大量使用药物而变得更加复杂, and health problems plagued the tiny baby from day one. 这意味着她在医院里孤独地呆了几个月，最终，她的家人不再来看她了.

Nurse Liz Smith’s story also began as a sad one. Approaching 40 years old and with no children of her own, 莉兹开始认为抚养一个家庭是一个不可能实现的梦想. 甚至像体外受精这样的生育选择也被她的医生排除在外. 当她被介绍给吉赛尔时，她刚刚开始面对这个现实, and their lives were both forever changed.

同事们都知道莉兹和吉赛尔的挣扎，并从中看到了机会. 他们建议丽兹进行医疗寄养，这是她以前从未考虑过的. 但在见到吉赛尔之后，她知道自己找到了特别的东西.

“I went to see her every day. It was kind of my reward after a long workday,” she recounts. “I remember certain nights, one in particular, 当她挂在电视上的时候，我从镜子旁走过，我的脑海里突然出现了失去她的想法. 我必须在脑海中去那里，因为它仍然是一个现实，但它让我感到恶心. You can’t just love a certain percentage. You have to give it your all.”

Gisele was released into Liz’s care, 由于她的发育迟缓，她需要在家接受有经验的医疗护理. 起初，莉兹希望收养吉赛尔，直到有一天她能与亲生父母团聚. But after a few initial visits, they once again stopped coming, then waived all rights when the state took custody.

This opened the door for adoption, and 533 days after their first meeting, Gisele herself banged the gavel at her adoption ceremony, forever bonding the two together as family.

“To witness how [love] can transform a life, to witness how it’s transformed her life and mine, is unbelievable,” Liz told CBS News.

并不是所有的故事都像莉兹和吉赛尔那样完美地(永久地)结束, but every day, 护士们以自己的方式“收养”病人——即使只是短暂的住院探访. As Liz said, love transforms lives, 全国各地的护士所表现出的爱和奉献，每一天的每一秒都在改变着人们的生活.

如果你有兴趣开始你自己的职业生涯作为护士或医疗助理, Provo College can help make that dream a reality. Contact us today for more information.