Gabriella Hansen, a NICU nurse at
HCA Florida Brandon Hospital, finds her calling at the very hospital where she was delivered.
Gabriella Hansen always knew she wanted to work in healthcare. When she decided to pursue nursing, she learned that her mother had considered nursing early on as well.
“I’ve always been very similar to her,” Gabriella says. “But at first, I didn’t believe her. She had to pull the pictures out, and I saw her in her nursing scrubs.”
Gabriella’s mother, who was a nursing school student before having her daughter, thought Gabriella would be a good fit as a labor and delivery nurse. Gabriella knew she wanted to care for babies, but she had doubts about the avenue to take. However, she soon found her calling at an HCA Healthcare job fair, where she was again encouraged to give the NICU a try.
“I fell in love with it,” she says.
Gabriella has been a NICU nurse at HCA Florida Brandon Hospital in Brandon, Florida, for nearly three years. She is now forming close bonds with families in the hospital where she herself was born.
Q: What inspired you to be a nurse?
A: I [initially] wanted to be a pediatrician because I always loved going to my pediatrician. He was so friendly and kind. I also grew up in a caregiving household. My brother has Crohn’s disease, and my dad was disabled. We had caregivers come in and out, so I always saw the caregiving and nursing staff and what they were doing.
I decided to be a nurse because I wanted more of the bedside experience. I wanted to be able to talk to the patients and their families and to be with them through their process and have compassion for them.
Q: How did you know that you had made the right decision?
A: One of my first critical care patients had a baby who passed away. I’d never experienced that before. It was after my shift, but I stayed because the mom requested that I be there. When I left that day, she said, ‘I don’t know what I would’ve done if you weren’t there. You knew my baby.’
She said, ‘I would’ve wanted you to be there for the birth, the death, for everything. I couldn’t do the journey without you.’ That’s when I knew, all right, God really did put me here for a reason, and I’m not going to leave.
We fall in love with the babies. We fall in love with the families.— Gabriella Hansen, NICU nurse, HCA Florida Brandon Hospital, Brandon, Florida
Q: It sounds like you form tight bonds with patients.
A: We fall in love with the babies. We fall in love with the families. One of our NICU babies was adopted and moved to Kansas City – he’s going to be my ring bearer when I get married! He is the light of my life, I love him. My fiancé and I actually flew up for his first birthday. That’s how close I am to their family.
Q: What is it like to work in the facility where you were born?
A: One part of me thinks this is epic. My mom had a picture of the nurse who delivered me, and I showed it to my co-worker. She’s been at HCA Healthcare for 30 years. She said, ‘Oh my gosh, that was my friend. She’s over here!’ Not everybody has the opportunity to know about the nurse who actually helped in bringing you to the earth and to know that she was a good nurse who took good care of your mom. I think it’s kind of cool that I work where I was born.
Q: What does your family think about your being a nurse?
A: My mom was pumped. The first thing she said was, ‘I knew you were meant for babies.’ My grandma volunteers as a NICU cuddler. I changed my schedule to be on shift with her.
Q: What do you like about being a part of HCA Healthcare?
A: The charge nurses at the hospital that I work with are really good. They take care of us. My manager takes care of me. I don’t feel like I’m just a number.
I think people should also know that we truly do not view patients as a number or a bed. We treat you as family. We truly care about your well-being. We care about your babies, and our job is to make sure that they’re safe and that they get to grow and go home with you.
