Kerry D. Franey, BSN, RN
Neonatal Intensive Care Unit
Nominated by clinical nurse Mary Anderson, BSN, RN, nurse educator Marie Field, MS, RN, assistant nursing director Julianne Mazzawi, MS, RN, and clinical nurse Judy McBain, BSN, RN, with letters of support from nursing director Marianne Cummings, MSN, RN, and NICU medical director Robert Insoft, MD.
Kerry Franey, BSN, RN, entered the NICU 11 years ago as a novice nurse with great potential. Today, she is an expert nurse who centers her practice on relationship-based care. "It is not uncommon for Kerry to be assigned to the most complex cases. Her well-honed skill of developing effective partnerships with families ensures that care is highly individualized and meaningful to each family," wrote her nominators.
Franey is deeply invested in the physical and emotional well-being of everyone she cares for. When a new mother experienced a difficult delivery, her baby was brought immediately to the NICU. Hours later, he suddenly deteriorated and passed away without ever really meeting his mother, who was still recovering in Labor and Delivery.
After the baby's death, all lines and tubes were required to be in place. Franey was concerned about the mother's first visit to the baby post-mortem and wanted her last look to be as natural as possible, as "this would be the vision she would see for the rest of her life," said her nominators.
Franey carefully arranged the tubes and lines to minimize their appearance and put together a memory box that included photos, footprints and handprints. A week later, she sent a condolence card to the family. "Kerry's card went beyond an expression of sympathy; it said, ‘I knew your son, he touched my heart and he mattered.' It was a profound acknowledgement that this mother and father, albeit brief, were someone's parents," according to the nomination.
"Kerry demonstrates qualities of leadership through her steadfast support of NICU parents, by modeling relationship-based care and mentoring new nursing staff and nursing students and, in her highly effective manner in leading the unit, when assuming the charge nurse role," wrote Marianne Cummings, MSN, RN, nursing director, in a letter of support.
Franey graduated from the University of Massachusetts Boston with her BSN and is certified in neonatal resuscitation. She is a member of the CWN Policies, Procedures, Guidelines and Standards committee, as well as the Nursing Standards Policies and Procedures committee.