Our Nurse of the Week is Tara Fankhauser, a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) nurse at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta who crochets Halloween costumes for the NICU babies in her care. This is the fourth year in a row that she’s spent months crocheting costumes for the hospital’s tiniest patients.
Fankhauser is a mom of three in addition to being a NICU nurse. She takes time every year to make the Halloween costumes herself. According to her coworker Alanna Gardner, Fankhauser uses Pinterest and the baby’s different personalities to decide on the perfect costume for them. She usually begins designing the costumes in the Spring and ends on Halloween day.
Fankhauser never repeats a costume. The costumes take anywhere from a few hours to a full day to make. The costumes are gifts; families are able to take them home as keepsakes of their child’s first Halloween. Holidays can be particularly hard for families with children in the NICU, which is why Fankhauser goes to the effort of bringing the Halloween spirit to the hospital’s tiniest patients.
Gardner tells fox5atlanta.com, “What started out as a hobby has quickly become a hospital tradition that brings joy to our families and staff.”
To learn more about Tara Fankhauser, a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) nurse at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta who crochets Halloween costumes for the hospital’s tiniest patients, visit here.
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