Becky Bell is an amazing woman. She is not only a loving wife and mother of two beautiful daughters; she is also a woman of profound faith and a true friend. She is currently pursuing her Master’s degree in Nursing Leadership and with only one year left, has been able to maintain a 4.0 grade point while working full time as the Infant Developmental Coordinator at Maricopa Medical Center in downtown Phoenix…….and it is actually because of her remarkable work in the NICU that I have submitted this nomination. Becky has a tremendous amount of responsibility in the NICU. She oversees the state newborn hearing screening program, negotiates contracts, plans budgets, is the NICU donation and volunteer liaison, coordinates developmentally supportive patient care, writes policies, provides extensive education to staff on developmental care of the neonate and family centered care, participates in community events and education, performs neonatal behavioral assessments, collects massive amounts of data, and works closely with families of neonates. She does all of this and more….all the while with a huge smile on her face…because Becky is passionate about doing everything in her power to make sure every tiny baby that passes through our NICU has the best outcome possible. I want you to know that while a lot of what Becky does every day may sound routine and somewhat boring, that when a tiny three pound infant is able to bring his fingers to his mouth to comfort himself, Becky had a hand in that. When a healthy newborn fails her hearing screen and misses her follow up appointment, it’s Becky who is on the phone, tracking down the parents to see why she missed her appointment and if they need help. When a critically ill, one pound baby is born and the nurse caring for it confidently ‘nests’ the baby so that he will develop appropriately, Becky had a hand in that, too. And when our hospital had a Beanie Baby drive and received over 15,000 Beanies, which are used as positioning aids in the NICU, Becky was behind every one of those stuffed animals. Becky is already the woman of THEIR year.

Signed,
Teresa Delisi