A Legacy of Healing: From Mother to Daughter

The NICU nurses at AdventHealth Avista are passionate about caring for the tiniest patients at our hospital. Meet Clinical Nurse Coordinator, Lynn Sibley. Lynn has been a NICU nurse for the past 28 years! Lynn recounts her journey towards finding a career she has fallen in love with and how nursing has become a family affair:

I went to the University of Northern Colorado as a business/accounting major. My mom is a nurse - she always wanted me to follow in her footsteps. I was a typical teenager and chose anything but nursing. My business path only lasted two semesters and one accounting class. I quickly realized that my future was not going to be in business.

Sometimes moms do know what’s best for their children even though it can be hard to admit. I changed my major to nursing but I didn't share it with my mom until the following Christmas morning. It was her Christmas surprise - she was thrilled!

Fast forward, I’m pursuing my nursing degree, it was my final semester of classes, and my nephew Jackson was unexpectantly born at 27 weeks. A very tiny, fragile baby weighing in at 2lbs /12oz. I couldn’t imagine how he was going to survive, or what possible deficits he may have. He had IVs, feeding tubes, breathing tubes, and lines in about every imaginable place. Sitting at his bedside, watching the nurses work and educate my brother and sister-in-law was absolutely amazing. From that moment on my goal was to obtain my degree and become a NICU nurse.

Now, 28 years later, Jackson is not only thriving, but we will be welcoming his second child at AdventHealth Avista in March. We delivered his son, Nash last year. You would never know Jackson was born so tiny.

I tell everyone who asks, I am employed by AdventHealth Avista, but it hardly feels like a job. When you absolutely love what you do, it is enjoyable to go to work. Don’t get me wrong, there are plenty of nights that my body reminds me, it’s still work after running around for 12 hours. I love teaching new parents to become confident parents, helping them overcome fears of handling and caring for their newborn infants. Walking beside them as they face the highs/lows every NICU parent faces. Being a friend and someone who listens when they are facing one of the scariest times of their lives. Helping them realize that it’s okay to ask for help and realize that they aren’t alone and reminding them that it takes a village to raise children today.

When I started at Avista 25 years ago, I never envisioned myself staying in one place for the duration of my career. Many of my co-workers have been there just as long and we consider one another as family. We have been through pregnancies, raising kids/teenagers, graduations, weddings, and becoming grandparents together and so many other important milestones. We have something unique and wonderful. We have fun and really do enjoy what we have been “called” to do. I take pride in delivering babies into our world and I can't imagine another job I’d rather be doing.

I got the same surprise my own mom received 28 years ago. My daughter, Delaney, followed in my footsteps and is now a NICU nurse.