Nursing News:
Sonıs care inspires mom to become nurse

The son of Jenni and Clint Dixon, 4-month-old Dylan had been hospitalized his entire life due to a virus that damaged his liver and most of his small intestine. Despite the efforts of the staff in the pediatric intensive care unit at Childrenıs Hospital in Omaha, Ne., he died Sept. 9, 2001. But Jenni Dixon never forgot the skill and compassion shown by the unitıs nursing staff. ³The attention Dylan needed and got was amazing,² she said.
It wasnıt long after Dylanıs death that Jenni, 24, began considering a nursing career. The thought stayed with Jenni, and in August 2002 she enrolled in the nursing program at Midland Lutheran College. With a graduation target date of May 2006, she hopes someday to work in the pediatric intensive care unit at Childrenıs Hospital.
To fulfill a class requirement, she recently volunteered to observe a nurse practitioner on duty in the unit where Dylan had spent his short life. There, she ran into some of the physicians who had treated her son. ³Their jaws just hit the ground,² she said. ³I said, ŒYou remember me, donıt you?ı² Indeed, the doctors did. They expressed concern that being in the unit might bring back painful memories for the nursing student. ³I said, ŒIım here to learn, and Iım going to do it,ı² Jenni said. Enrolled this summer in a 10-week program at Childrenıs, sheıll spend three nights a week in the unit, caring for the hospitalıs tiniest patients. Recently she held a baby who had received a transplant similar to the one her own son had needed.
³He was doing so wonderfully,² she said, ³and Iım so happy for him and his family. Itıs like closure for me, because I know thatıs where Dylan should have been.² Jenni watches parents who arrive each day at the unit. She knows how they feel. ³I hold back because Iım not the nurse,² she said. ³But I would love to give them a hug and say, ŒIıve been in your shoes. Thatıs why Iım doing this.ı² While carrying a full load of classes, Jenni has another career at home. Sons Brendan, 5, and Dylanıs twin brother, Tyler, 3, keep her busy, even with husband Clintıs help. She also cares for the familyıs special pet, a white dove. Itıs the one that was released at Dylanıs funeral. ³It wouldnıt leave,² Jenni said. ³So we brought it home and named it Dylan.²
Copyight Omaha World Herald 2004. Reprinted with permission