Jennifer Nelson works at INTEGRIS Health’s corporate office as an executive assistant, but once a week, she spends her evening serving in a very different role at INTEGRIS Health Children's in the Baptist Medical Center Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.
Jennifer Nelson works at INTEGRIS Health’s corporate office as an executive assistant, but once a week, she spends her evening serving in a very different role at INTEGRIS Health Children's in the Baptist Medical Center Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.
As a cuddle care volunteer, she provides calm, safe and loving support to babies when their parents are unable to be there. Becoming a cuddle care volunteer is something Nelson dreamed about long before she ever stepped into the role. “I learned that these babies need people to cuddle them when their parents can’t,” Nelson said. “I have wanted to do it since I was 12.”
To become a cuddle care volunteer, Nelson completed the same training required for all INTEGRIS Health volunteers, along with additional training specific to cuddle care. “I just really stay still,” Nelson said. “I’ve learned that they don’t want a lot of rocking and patting. It seems like stillness and calmness is best for them.”
For Nelson, the experience is both meaningful and humbling. She may not know each baby’s story or what happens after she leaves, but she knows she can offer comfort in that moment. “I don’t know what led them to be here right now. I don’t know what’s going to happen after I leave,” Nelson said. “I just know for these few hours I can be calm and safe and loving. To me, that’s something I have to offer and that’s what they need.”
Nelson says cuddle care has brought immense joy into her life. Through the cuddle care program, volunteers like Nelson help provide comfort and support to the hospital’s smallest patients while also assisting the care teams who serve them.
Click here to learn more about volunteering with INTEGRIS Health.
